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This Edition of the Hamlin Life and Works 
is limited to one hundred copies. 




0. ef. 7£&^^£^ 




Age 50 



Life and Works of 
Orlo Jay Hamlin 



(1803-1880) 



EDITED BY 
CHRISTINA HOWELL CHARLES 



1914 
PRIVATELY PUBLISHED 






4h^ .<£ 



Copyright, 1914 
By CHRISTINA HOWELL CHARLES 



JO! 301314 



VAIL-BALLOU COMPANY 
BINGHAMTON AND NEW YORK 



©CI.A376839 



TO 
The HONORABLE HENRY HAMLIN 

AND TO 
LAENA HAMLIN ROSE 

THIS VOLUME IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED 



PREFACE 

ORLO JAY HAMLIN, the subject of this volume, 
was a man of unusual mental power. His early 
career, from his own pen, is conscientiously set forth 
in this volume with as much accuracy as has been in 
the editor's power to give. The reader will note his 
strong and never-ending desire to better his own and 
the lives and conditions of those who knew him. The 
way he set about to study law as a step to his greater 
success indexes the sturdiness of his will, and the 
giant, undaunted spirit he showed in all his life-long 
efforts. His simple sketch of his early life proves that 
his temperament was modest and sensitive. Reason 
and justice governed all the aims and relations in the 
life of this lofty and ennobling man whose spirit and 
brain kept him steadily working on problems of life, 
and of local, state and national interests. During 
his short-period of physical strength he accomplished 
much, and then came the cruel thirty years' epoch of 
invalidism, throughout which he kept up a ceaseless 
study of laws, languages and customs; such heroism 
manifested on a sick bed marks him as an unusual 
intellectual and spiritual character. 

While he was ill of nervous prostration and tor- 
mented by all the characteristics attendant upon such 
a sickness, he lived in the highest thoughts, wrote 
poems, axioms, reminiscences, political speeches, sci- 
entific articles and translated French and German. 



x PREFACE 

He also did exhaustive work in chemistry, geology 
and astronomy. Meanwhile, he kept abreast of the 
times, and even touched upon the Woman Suffrage 
question, which was young in its agitation at that 
date. Mr. Hamlin's habits were irreproachable, his 
nature was essentially spiritual; he never knew bit- 
terness nor wrath over his physical weakness, neither 
did he fret over his blighted career. His physical 
incapacitation in no wise stopped his mental growth ; 
his soul called for intellectual stimulation; mental 
growth and betterment of conditions around him 
meant infinitely more to his nature than did material 
possessions. 

Mr. Hamlin was doomed to drudgeries and dis- 
tasteful occupations in his early life, but he was born 
of wise, honorable and tender parents, which is the 
greatest blessing to a man in the power of fortune 
to bestow; his mother was a superior woman, with a 
keen eye for the essentials to the formation of char- 
acter. Love watched over Orlo J.'s childhood, he was 
cast in an heroic mold and was early filled spiritually 
to meet his hardships. Mr. Hamlin's mind was a 
climbing one, his accomplishments in public life were 
many before ill health put him between sheets, where 
for so many years his inborn ambition and force of 
character held him closely to his purpose in life. He 
was at once a man of will and intelligence, and of 
soul and temperament; he was brilliant in conversa- 
tion, and accurate in his statements. The subject he 
discussed always showed his thorough understanding 
of it; his information was solid, he digested it well. 
This accuracy, with his natural charm, gave him un- 
usual influence with his contemporaries and in his 



PREFACE xi 

profession. By ill health, his successful legal career 
was cut off when he crossed the meridian of life. As 
will be seen, his extraordinary brain power gradually 
sapped the vitality of his frail body, meantime his 
mentality grew stronger. He was wise and just al- 
ways and fearless for right everywhere, — in his fam- 
ily, his social life and in his profession. Mr. Hamlin 
was a distinctive man of parts. McKean County has 
not his superior in contemporaneous history. 

Modesty of his attainments may be truthfully re- 
corded as his greatest characteristic. It is needless 
to describe in detail the literary task-work done by 
Mr. Hamlin during the thirty years of his invalidism. 
His manuscripts speak volumes of love for accurate 
studentship. We would like to reproduce herein some 
of his works on Botany, Chemistry and Astronomy. 
These manuscripts could well be made into separate 
text-books for public school work. Because of their 
age and decay, the writer regrets that she must leave 
many more valuable materials unused to complete 
this showing of the attainments of this wonderful 
man. 

Mr. Hamlin signed his own name or initials to 
many of his writings and treated the authorship of 
others as open secrets. Those certified by him give 
us a complete understanding of his way of thinking 
and of his conduct. From these we get a sound idea 
of his life and of his character. He made good prim- 
itive history for the State of Pennsylvania. This 
record of his life will mean much to his town, his 
county, his State, to his family and to mankind. 
Christina Howell Charles. 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

I THE MAN HIMSELF 1 

Lineage 3 

Reminiscences of Life 7 

Primitive History 18 

Obituary and an Appreciation 56 

II A LOVER OF NATURE 67 

A Summer's Sunrise in the Country 69 

McKean County, Pennsylvania 75 

Sketch of the Hill Scenery Surrounding Smeth- 

port 103 

Coal Fields of McKean County, Pennsylvania . . 123 

Agricultural Address 130 

III ATTITUDE TOWAR.D PUBLIC QUESTIONS . . .149 

Our Duty 151 

Views of a Private Citizen on the Question of 

Constitutional Secession 172 

The Law of Nations 195 

The Woman's Rights and Suffrage Question . . 220 
Are Free Colored Persons Born in the United 
States Citizens within the Meaning of the Con- 
stitution of the United States? 226 

Remarks on the American Constitution .... 229 

United States Treasury Notes 238 

Lecture on Temperance 240 

Patriotic Address 241 

Physical Education or Culture 242 

United States Flag 260 

A Few Hints Suggested on Political Subjects . . 261 

Judiciary Memoranda 263 

One of Mr. Hamlin's Speeches in the House . . 270 
Remarks on Read's Amendment on the Canal Bill . 288 
A Letter 300 

IV A STUDY OF MENTAL AND MORAL PROBLEMS . 303 
Moral and Mental Culture 305 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Is a High Degree of Mental Development Result- 
ing from Educational Training Productive of Dis- 
belief in the Bible and Christianity? .... 327 
Speculative Ideals of the Moral Philosophy . . 330 

Is the Human Soul Immortal? 357 

The Revelations of the Scriptures 369 

V LITERARY WORKS REVIEWED 373 

Philosophy and Metaphysics 375 

Dante's Poems, Translated by Longfellow . . . 397 
Abstract of Wayland's Moral Science, or Philoso- 
phy, 1835-1865 400 

Professor Stone's " Invitation Heeded " . . . . 416 
Goethe's Tragedy of " Faust," Translated by Bay- 
ard Taylor 424 

Brief Extracts from " Science and the Bible " . . 436 

Rhetoric — By Henry Coppee, A.M 444 

Rhetoric — By G. P. Quackenbos, A.M 458 

VI STRAY THOUGHTS 463 

" Heu Miserandi Ah Me 465 

Thanksgiving Dinner 467 

Affection 469 

To My Canary 471 

An Outing 472 

Historical Ages 473 

Miscellanies and Extracts 479 

My Favorite Extracts from Longfellow's " Hy- 
perion " 482 

Legend of the Nunundah 488 

Hamlin's Translation of " La Marseillaise " . . 490 
An Incomplete Picture of an Episode of the Writer 
at the Age of Nineteen Years 492 

VII IMAGINATION AND VISION 501 

A Picture of the Imagination . 503 

A Dream, or a Vision 519 

A Little Chapter of an Old Dyspeptic's Everyday 

Reflections 523 

Another Little Chapter from an Old Dyspeptic's 

Everyday Reflections 528 

What Enjoyment is There in Life Worth the 

Price We Pay? .533 

Oh Memory! Thou Great, Grand Link .... 535 
Thoughts and Reflections 537 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

Orlo Jay Hamlin Frontispiece 



FACING 
PAGE 



Orlo Jay Hamlin at 22 200 

Henry Hamlin, surviving son of Orlo Jay Hamlin 450 ^ 



I 

THE MAN HIMSELF 






LINEAGE 

[From the Hamlin Genealogy.] 

ORLO JAY HAMLIN was born in Sharon, Con- 
necticut, December 2, 1803. His father, Dr. 
Asa Hamlin, was born on March 30, 1780, in Sharon, 
Connecticut. He was married there on December 26, 
1802, to Asenath, daughter of Stephen and Huldah 
(Doty) Delano, who was born in Sharon, April 6, 
1780. He practiced medicine at Sharon for some 
years and was highly respected by the community, 
and then removed to Fairfield, New York, about 1814 ; 
to Salem, Pennsylvania, 1816; and to Smethport, 
Pennsylvania, 1833. 

Dr. Asa Hamlin was a Federalist. He was reared 
under the Puritanical regime of the Connecticut 
Presbyterians ; as his son Orlo put it : " Amusements 
were rare and Sunday a day to be dreaded." His 
opportunities for education and culture in youth were 
scanty, yet he improved them so well that he secured 
a profession in which he held respectable rank. In 
those days, however, doctor's fees were small and 
hard to obtain ; in consequence, at his death his family 
was left with little financial support. He died in 
Smethport, September 8, 1835. 

His children are : 

Orlo Jay, born December 2, 1803, at Sharon, 
Eliza Maria, born October 31, 1806, at Sharon, 
Edward W., born January 11, 1809, at Fairfield, New York; 
Edward died young. 

3 



4 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

William Edward, born June 7, 1811, 
Asenath Jeanette, born August 27, 1817, at Salem, 
Asa Darwin, born February 16, 1820, at Salem, 
Byron Delano, born May 7, 1824, at Sheshequin. 

Orlo Jay Hamlin, son of Asa, was born in Sharon, 
Connecticut, December 2, 1803; he was married in 
Norwich Township, McLean County, Pennsylvania, 
January 13, 1828, to Orra Lucinda Cogswell, daughter 
of John and Dolly Cogswell. Orra Lucinda was born 
in Griswold, Connecticut, September 10, 1804. It is 
supposed that Orlo Jay removed with his parents 
from Connecticut to Fairfield, New York, about 1814, 
and then to Salem, Pennsylvania, in 1816. He was 
teacher of the pioneer school at Towanda, Pennsyl- 
vania, in 1824; and while holding that position read 
law with Simon Kinney, and was admitted to the bar 
of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, in 1826. In the 
fall of that year he sought a place of business, visiting 
Warren, and later at Smethport, Pennsylvania, where 
he located in time for attending the second term of 
court held in the county, December, 1826, and was 
there admitted to the bar, ex gratia; and was ad- 
mitted to practice in the Supreme Court, July, 1836. 
In after life he stated that he had filled the offices 
of township collector, recorder and register, treasurer, 
deputy-postmaster, deputy prothonotary, postmaster, 
deputy United States marshal to take the census of 
1830, deputy attorney-general for McKean and Potter 
Counties, and member of the legislature in 1832; he 
further stated : " Complaint has never reached my 
ear of mismanagement in any of the offices, and I 
could have held them longer had I chosen to do so." 
He was a member of Constitutional Convention of 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 5 

Pennsylvania, 1837 ; candidate for Judge, 1839 ; and 
for Representative in Congress, 1841-2. The news- 
papers writing on the subject of his nomination 
quoted Honorable John Sargent, President of the 
Constitutional Convention, as follows : " I am very- 
impressed with the force of Mr. Hamlin's arguments 
and would take this opportunity of saying that 
McKean County is ably represented." 

In physique he was tall and slender, black hair, 
with eyes of peculiar blue; bilious temperament, a 
man of logical mind and remarkable intellect; al- 
though not a college graduate, yet a rare student. 
He continued to reside at Smethport until his death, 
the center of a large circle of friends and of a happy 
family, the leader of the bar in that community for 
many years; ever held by his fellow citizens in high 
honor and esteem for ability and integrity. He could 
have received any office in the gift of his constituents, 
but ill health compelled him to decline further polit- 
ical honors. For nearly thirty years he was an invalid 
from nervous prostration, and during his forced con- 
finement, while lying in bed, mastered many sciences, 
of which pursuit he was very fond. About 1870, Dr. 
Keating, of Philadelphia, was called to his bedside, 
but was surprised when the patient said : " Doctor, 
I have been reading the Marseillaise Hymn; I know 
you are a French scholar ; I have it in the original and 
in translation. Now I wish you to take it in the 
French and translate it slowly, while I compare the 
translation to see whether the translator or I am 
right." The doctor assented and when he came to the 
verse which gave Mr. Hamlin special trouble, he said : 
" Now, please be accurate." At the conclusion of the 



6 ORLO JAY HAMLIN 

reading, a smile gladdened the face of the invalid, 
and he said : " I thought that I was right, now I've 
proven it. — You may tell me now what you can do 
to make a sick man well." 

In early years he was skeptical regarding the im- 
mortality of the soul, but in 1854 he received baptism 
from Rev. B. T. Babbit, and became a member of the 
Presbyterian Church. From that time to the close, 
his faith grew firmer and stronger, as will appear 
from the sketches written by him in this book. He 
died at Smethport on February 13, 1880; his wife 
followed him on April 17, 1881. 

His children were all born in Smethport: 

Harriet, born January 3, 1829, 

Henry, born April 9, 1830, living, 

John C, born March 4, 1836, 

Pauline E., born September 13, 1838, living. 

One of the last things uttered by Mr. Hamlin was : 
" When I shall have entered the other world, I hope 
next to my Saviour I shall see the face of my mother." 
He loved and respected her supremely. 



Mr. Hamlin's mother was a very superior woman in- 
tellectually, and a strong moral character. Her influ- 
ence had much to do with shaping her son's mind and 
character. 

His wife, Orra Lucinda Cogswell, was a very hand- 
some woman, domestic in her taste, economical and 
sincere. She was a loving mother and a devoted 
wife, she watched faithfully by the sickbed of her hus- 
band until she was entirely broken down in health. 
She died the year after her husband was laid away. 



REMINISCENCES OF LIFE 

AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY 

PERHAPS at no former period of my life have I 
been better able to judge of my own value to 
myself and to the world than at the present. I have 
always adopted for a maxim that if a man has not 
done something either by making himself rich or by 
obtaining celebrity in his calling or profession by the 
time he is about thirty years old, he never will, and 
at that period of life he can tolerably well judge of his 
future prospects. Being now nearly twenty-nine 
years of age, I spent a few moments in applying this 
rule to myself. Born and brought up to the age of 
eighteen in indigence and too much in idleness, at that 
period I found it necessary to adopt some course of 
life; like most boys who have read a few volumes of 
novels or romance the moral of talent I possess con- 
sists rather in imagination than judgment. The past 
seems like a view of a desolate barren, over which 
hung the clouds of adversity without the bright 
influence of even a cheering star; but to my young 
imagination the prospect was a fairy lawn, a field 
mantled with all the rich variety of nature, gilded 
with the tissue of hope. Future years were to be but 
a paradise of enjoyment. I had drunk in the idea 
from the examples given in books that by industry, 
perseverance and unremitting attention to books, a 
man endowed by nature even with mediocrity of tal- 

7 



8 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

ent in due time shines conspicuously in a professional 
career. 

Firmly impressed with this belief, I set out under 
very discouraging circumstances, with but a glimmer- 
ing of education, totally penniless, with the assistance 
of no one able to contribute to my pecuniary wants 
or friends to patronize me. Still, reckless of conse- 
quences and in direct opposition to my father's choice 
of a profession, I came to the desperate resolve of 
becoming a lawyer. After wading through a depth of 
misery and mortification apparently insurmountable, 
my object was attained, being admitted to the bar at 
the age of twenty-three, in September, 1826. 

So great was my pecuniary embarrassment previous 
to my admission to the bar, sometimes I thought of 
abandoning my profession and sometimes of abandon- 
ing myself: for, in some gloomy moments, I even 
dared the thought of suicide. I believed it could not 
be an unpardonable sin under such circumstances; 
tortured with the thought of being called to suffer 
with my Host without the means of discharging the 
debt, absolved an occasional faithlessness as to my 
eventual success. (For by this time I had begun to 
doubt of the correctness of my maxim.) All those 
youthful dreams of glowing fancy having fled like the 
morning's dew before my ripening judgment, the earth 
again assuming the appearance of a desert island 
without a spot of green to change its unvarying hue 
of desolation, it seems rather the performance of a 
duty than the commission of a crime. 

However, time, which is said eventually to relieve 
all our woes, brought me on the stage of action. Still 
solely dependent on my own exertions for whatever 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 9 

success, if any, I might meet with six years have 
passed since I first launched my little bark into the 
ocean of business. When I reflect on my qualifica- 
tions and natural constitutional defects I am greatly 
surprised that I have ever met with the least success 
in my professional career. Naturally of the most 
timid and diffident disposition, it is unaccountable 
to me that on my first attempt at a public speech I 
had not forever renounced a calling for which nature 
had not given me one necessary qualification, and I 
can only account for a continuation of exertion on 
these grounds by an inherited predilection or pref- 
erence for the legal employment. It has been re- 
marked that a man's having a taste for a particular 
employment is an evidence of his natural qualifica- 
tions for that mode of life. It may be so in some 
instances, but I should dissent from it as a general 
rule. Hundreds of examples in real life may be found 
where men, having an ardent preference to a partic- 
ular employment, have labored through a life of serv- 
ice without gaining an inch from the starting point. 
Another and still more powerful consideration 
urged me on : a latent feeling of vanity, which was so 
early incorporated into my moral system or principles 
of innate action as to render me so totally blind to 
the effects of my efforts at public speaking that I have 
not yet been able to dissuade myself from an effort 
for improvement. It is said that charity covers a 
multitude of faults. This is true as a Christian prin- 
ciple, and I believe vanity hides many defects in the 
estimation of an individual; for, I am quite certain 
that without this all-powerful influence I never should 
have made these efforts at public speaking in my 



10 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

whole life. I believe that some public speakers, hav- 
ing a good memory, pass off tolerably well by borrow- 
ing their ideas from books and clothing them in a 
new garb; this privilege is, however, denied to me, 
for I have neither a memory sufficiently tenacious to 
quote, nor presence of mind enough to find other words 
to convey the same idea ; so that the whole substance 
of all I can say is a club recital of a few of the plain 
facts. 

Notwithstanding all these discouragements, I have 
passed through six years of a professional career with 
a tolerable degree of success, owing more to good for- 
tune than to good management. One trait has al- 
ways marked my conduct, a regular, consistent course 
after my political principles and conduct, as also 
a steady determination as to one course of life. 
Early in life I fixed my political creed by the Demo- 
cratic standard and have steadily continued a sup- 
porter of the principles and policy of the Democratic 
party. 

I always had a taste for agriculture and, conse- 
quently, while yet a boy resolved to immigrate to a 
country where I could get a farm of new land 
so cheap that I might eventually pay for it. I early 
thought of an additional reason for settling in a new 
country : in such a country there would probably be 
less competition in a professional business. I would, 
therefore, probably get a share from the dernier re- 
sort of necessity where no other could be found; 
accordingly in the early part of my studentship I fixed 
upon McKean County as what I termed my star in the 
West. I had early resolved to not change situa- 
tions often ; I had resolved once permanently to locate 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 11 

myself which was to be immediately on coming to the 
bar; this I believe I have done, having settled at 
Smethport, McKean County, Pennsylvania, at the 
organization of the county for judicial purposes in 
the twenty-third year of my age, being the last of 
November, 1826. 

I have passed through different grades of a variety 
of little offices, such as township collector, deputy- 
postmaster, deputy-prothonotary and registrar and 
recorder, treasurer of the Turnpike Road Company 
two years, postmaster three years, deputy attorney- 
general for Potter and McKean Counties, deputy 
United States marshal to take the census of 1830, and 
in 1833 have been elected to the legislature. Com- 
plaint has never reached my ear of mismanagement 
in any of these offices, and I could have held those 
which I have held longer had I chosen to, but pre- 
ferred resigning. 

I have learned to consider office rather as a matter 
of accident and peculiar fortune than the result of 
talent or management, and I have frequently ob- 
served that those who seem most desirous of office 
are least fortunate in obtaining it. A man's coming 
into public notice depends much on peculiar circum- 
stances which seem rather the result of fortune than 
of any human foresight ; consistency in politics should 
never be lost sight of. I have both in my private and 
public career universally acted honestly and upon 
honorable principles and left the result to fortune, let 
what would be the consequences. 

I am resolved my memory shall never be blackened 
by a stain of conscious dishonesty. My views of pe- 
cuniary matters have always been based upon the 



12 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

Franklin system of industry, prudence, frugality and 
economy, and to the two last principles I am chiefly 
indebted to my having gained a comfortable and 
tolerably independent living. I have chosen rather 
to trust to the small but more certain earnings of a 
safe business than to embark what little I have in the 
more hazardous but sometimes the more profitable 
enterprise of speculation and, consequently, have no 
idea of ever becoming rich, but hope if no very disas- 
trous fortune overtakes me to live comfortably. 

I believe I now can see my own situation in life 
with reasonable clearness. It is totally impossible for 
me to become distinguished, either politically, profes- 
sionally or by wealth, my talents being at best but on 
a level with ordinary mediocrity. It would be but 
the excess of folly to attempt the attainment of any 
station beyond my capacity. I have no doubt I have 
attained the climax of all I ever shall be. I am, there- 
fore, reconciled to my fate, and have resolved to spend 
the remainder of my life in paying strict attention 
to the little professional business I may obtain and 
the leisure time to give to the domestic employ- 
ments about my farm. I have always found either to 
be more congenial to my taste and capacity, and, 
therefore, shall practice them. I have always felt a 
strong preference for a home over any other place, 
and enjoy myself better there than in any other situa- 
tion. I am convinced that at best life is but a dream, 
and I may as well make that dream as pleasant as 
possible, for at best there are many dark spots in the 
scenery of human life. 

The winter of 1832 and 1833 I spent in the discharge 
of my duties as a member of the legislature of this 



O^LO JAY HAMLIN 13 

State. The most important object I wished to obtain 
was an appropriation of $200,000 to aid in improving 
the east and west state road running through McKean 
County. For this object I labored with unremitting 
zeal and in the early part of March, 1833, the bill 
came up in the House of Representatives, but, unfor- 
tunately, it came up by way of an amendment to an- 
other bill containing appropriations to various other 
local objects and the whole bill was defeated in favor 
of this measure. I addressed the House in a speech 
of nearly two hours' length. It was on my motion 
to attach my bill to the one already under considera- 
tion the amendment carried almost by acclamation, 
although the whole bill was finally lost on second 
reading. One of my friends came round to me when I 
had closed my remarks and said to me, in the utmost 
warmth of friendship, that I had made the best speech 
made in that House this session. It is time I ex- 
erted all the abilities I had, but the effort was far 
from being a splendid one. My first speech that ses- 
sion was made in favor of an appropriation for the 
extension of the Pennsylvania Canal up the north 
branch of the Susquehanna. This project also failed 
at that time but has since (in 1835) carried. 

I probably may never forget my feelings on first 
addressing the House for the first few minutes of 
speaking; while looking around the House upon the 
members, of whom there were one hundred, their 
heads looked like so many pinheads, and all appeared 
in a whirl or giddy dance, and I felt as though I were 
filled with ether and a good deal like rising in the 
air. This feeling, however, lasted but a few moments, 
and I was ever after, while addressing the House, as 



14 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

calm and collected as while trying a cause in a court 
of justice. My first speech was complimented by a 
number of newspaper editors. As my health that 
winter was quite poor, I did not engage in any de- 
bates, although as a speaker I believe my standing 
in the House was tolerably fair. 

One object I accomplished that session very un- 
expectedly to my friends and to me was the pas- 
sage of a law for the organization of the Eighteenth 
Judicial District, composed of the counties of Potter, 
McKean, Warren and Jefferson. There was but one 
petition before the House in favor of this project and 
that was signed by only about a dozen persons. It so 
happened that at an evening session I was anxious to 
attach some trifling local bill to another local bill 
then before the House by way of amendment. I rose 
and moved the Speaker to receive the amendment. 
Some other gentleman had got the floor at the same 
time and the Speaker decided in his favor. General 
Lacock, a member from Beaver County, then observed 
to the Speaker that I had the floor first, but the 
Speaker would not recall his decision. General 
Lacock and a number of others then spoke to move to 
dispense with the ordinary rule for calling up bills 
and they would sustain me. It then occurred to 
me that I would try the fate of my new district bill 
and it so happened that this was but of a single sec- 
tion and part of a bill provisionally organizing Pot- 
ter County. On moving to dispense with the rules 
I was supported by the whole House. When the first 
section was before the House I rose and said I was 
not disposed to occupy the time of the House but 
would state briefly the objects of the bill ; that it con- 



OKLO JAY HAMLIN 15 

tallied two distinct propositions, that I would be brief 
upon the first proposition and would not speak upon 
the second unless it was opposed in debate. The 
whole bill was read after my statement of the first 
proposition and passed without dissent. Judge 
Lewis (then a member from Bradford County) rose 
and said that I was quite unwell and wanted to leave 
the House. He, therefore, moved that the usual read- 
ings be dispensed with and that the bill be read the 
third time by its title, and this was agreed to. When 
it became generally understood the next morning that 
the bill contained a section for a new district some of 
the members were much surprised, and one of the 
members of the Senate came to me and remarked 
that he had just heard that I had got a bill through 
the House last evening while the members were 
asleep. However, by the influence of my political 
friends in the Senate, the bill passed that body and it 
became a law. 

In the spring of 1833 I returned home in poor 
health and traveled the following summer to the 
Eastern States; returning in the fall I resumed my 
professional business and resolved never to appear 
again in public life. I was, however, put in nomina- 
tion by McKean County and Potter County that fall 
for the legislature, but not being placed on the ticket 
in Lyconing County (to which those counties were 
attached in their election of representatives), I did 
not run. I was also put in nomination for the legis- 
lature the fall of 1835 but declined being a candidate. 
I continued regularly in practice of my profession 
and in July, 1836, was admitted to the bar of the 
Supreme Court at Sunbury. In October, 1837, I was 



16 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

admitted to the United States District Court then sit- 
ting at Williamsport, in which court I was counsel 
for the defendant in an important ejectment suit which 
involved the title to the whole of the lands of the 
Trimble estate in McKean County. 

I have elsewhere remarked that the only object of 
my ambition was to become a tolerable public 
speaker. My exertions were so far crowned with suc- 
cess that in 1835 at the Potter court on the trial of 
a slander cause in which I was counsel for the plain- 
tiff, notwithstanding I addressed a jury who were 
characteristically a hardy people and whose sympa- 
thies were not easily wrought upon, at the close of my 
remarks my efforts melted nearly all the jurymen and 
nearly all the bystanders into tears. I gained my 
cause and my client got a handsome verdict. I have 
found by experience that if I have any talent in pub- 
lic speaking it was in playing upon the sympathies 
of my audiences — in short, in the pathetic. I have, 
however, made some successful efforts at the ludicrous 
in trying causes where my opponent's cause set him 
in a ridiculous point of view. I have kept a jury for 
an hour in a constant scene of smiles and laughter, 
and it is often said by the adverse counsel that I some- 
times indulged in a mild, easy strain of satire which 
cuts the more severely for the good humor with which 
my bolts were shot. 

In the spring of 1836 my health became very much 
impaired. I became so weak while attending the Pot- 
ter County court at the May session that I fainted 
while doing business in court and from that time be- 
came a confirmed dyspeptic. From the spring of 
1836 to the fall of 1837 I abandoned my studies and 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 17 

did little business. In the fall of 1836 I was again 
called from my domestic fireside, much against my 
own choice, by being elected a Senatorial delegate to 
represent the counties of Tioga, Potter, McKean, 
Warren, Jefferson and Venango in the convention 
assembled at Harrisburg in May, 1837, to amend 
the constitution of Pennsylvania. I attended the 
spring session but ill health prevented my tak- 
ing an active part in the procedure. Toward the 
close of the spring session I was attacked with an 
affection of the liver (doubtless resulting from dys- 
pepsia ) and was confined to my bed for several weeks. 
I left the convention before the close of the first ses- 
sion and continued in ill health all summer. In the 
fall my health began slightly to improve. 

I have from early youth been most devotedly at- 
tached to home, always preferring retirement within 
the domestic circle of my own family to my public 
station. I never supposed I was qualified for a 
statesman nor had I ever the slightest desire to dis- 
tinguish myself in that way. 

In May, 1832, I wrote a description of McKean 
County. It was published in many of the papers 
throughout this State and in Hazard register which 
can be found in the state library. 

My speech in favor of the North Branch appropria- 
tion was published in the Pennsylvania Reporter, 
February 12th, 1833, and my remarks in favor of the 
E. & W. state road appropriation appeared in the 
same paper about the 9th of March, 1833. 



PRIMITIVE HISTORY 

[A few reminiscences written by Mr. Hamlin relating to the 
early settlement of Smethport, and McKean County, Pennsyl- 
vania.] 

AS the history of a whole country is made up of 
the private history of its individual members 
to a certain extent, so an individual's history may to a 
limited extent be an index to, or exponent of, the whole 
community; therefore I may be pardoned the other- 
wise seeming impropriety of using the personal pro- 
noun, I, so freely in this paper. 

Egotism I have always disliked; I am ever adverse 
to saying or writing much about myself, but now it 
seems unavoidable. 

Human life is made up of actions and motives to 
human actions. Every person who settles in a new 
country for life, does so from a motive known to him- 
self, and that motive operates with him as an impetus 
to impel him to action. I was born poor, my elemen- 
tary education was poor, and my physical constitu- 
tion was poor; but I had industry, personal pride of 
position in society, a little ambition, and early re- 
solved to acquire a competence, if I could. For that 
purpose I determined to locate in a new country and 
to grow up with the growth of that country, if my 
destiny would permit, but time, which solves all 
things human, seems to have ruled adversely to my 
youthful hope, as neither my personal success nor the 

18 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 19 

prosperity of the county has ever been very marked; 
the latter has lingered its slow length along, and has 
not as yet found much success, although we still 
hope a better end is dawning for that; while the 
former has dwindled into obscurity and will soon 
pass to oblivion. I trust my next move will be to 
locate in the far off " better land." 

From 1822 to 1824 I spent mainly at Towanda, 
Bradford County, Pennsylvania, in acquiring the pro- 
fession of a lawyer, being obliged to earn my own 
board and clothing or the means to procure them. 
Money was hard to get in those days. I taught the 
village school at Towanda for eleven dollars a month, 
teaching an evening grammar school at the same time 
for one dollar and fifty cents per scholar for Hye 
months. This business I thoroughly detested, and I 
may say cordially hated, and after I had spent the 
proceeds of the five months' teaching I supported my- 
self by signpainting, surveying and mapping, a busi- 
ness which I liked much better because to me it was 
not so much a drudgery, and by these means I could 
earn money much faster and thereby gain more time 
to read. I was a hard student, reading from twelve 
to fourteen hours a day and thereby gaining the un- 
enviable sobriquet of " the Pale Village Student," and 
about the 20th of September, 1826, was admitted to 
the bar. That day I have ever considered the hap- 
piest day of my life. I had struggled hard through 
poverty and privations to gain a profession, being the 
object which I constantly held before me as I then 
termed it, " The Pole Star of my Attraction." 

Doubtless many young men who settled in this 
county worked out by the month to gain their first 



20 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

business start. Here I will make a little digression 
by relating an incident which had nearly closed my 
career as a surveyor. In the summer of 1826 I was 
employed to re-survey a lot of land on Towanda Creek, 
about twelve miles from the Village known as the 
Barclay Tract, it being the tract on which the Barclay 
or Towanda coal beds are now situate. When we 
closed the survey it was about sunset, and we were 
about a mile from the cabin at the coal opening at 
which we expected to stay the night. One of the men 
who knew the country led the way, I followed next. It 
soon grew dark and then came up a violent thunder 
storm. It grew so dark we could no longer keep our 
way and were obliged to stop, and concluded to try 
to go no further but stop for the night short of the 
camp, where we were. Some of the party sat down 
on a log, while another who had a flint and steel in 
the tinder-box tried to start a fire. Every combust- 
ible thing about us being thoroughly wet, it was long 
before a fire was securely kindled, and when kindled 
we saw to our astonishment that we were almost at 
the very brink of a precipice of from sixty to seventy 
feet of perpendicular rock opening into a chasm below, 
whose floor was strewn with huge boulders, and 
jagged massive stones; in fact, we were but about 
three feet from the edge of this chasm in the rocks, 
and the direction we had been traveling would have 
carried us directly to its brink which if we had 
reached must have been destruction to the guide, to 
me and perhaps others of the party. We remained 
at a Spring-run below the precipice for the night, sit- 
ting up under hemlock trees without sleep, but thank- 
ful we had all escaped so well. While residing in 



OKLO JAY HAMLIN 21 

Bradford County I escaped two other adventures quite 
as hazardous as this, but in after life never have been 
able to escape the horrible dyspepsia of it all. 

To return to the thread of my story, the day of my 
admission to the bar, the Court assigned Mr. Ingham, 
another young lawyer, that same day admitted to the 
bar, and myself to defend a prisoner charged with a 
crime of mayhem, or gorging out another man's eye. 
The case came on for trial next day. Ingham and 
I appeared for the defense, but the third young 
lawyer (whose name I have forgotten) did not 
put in an appearance. Ingham made the first speech 
and I made the closing argument for the defense ; this 
was my debut or maiden speech. When I had taken 
my seat, Ex-judge Strong, then a lawyer practicing 
at the Bradford County bar, came to me, and taking 
me cordially by the hand said : " I congratulate you ; 
keep on as you have begun and you will get on well 
enough." This kindly remark did me good, for it 
encouraged me and gave me a better opinion of myself 
and gave me hope for the future; and I now reflect 
how much good an older person may do a younger one, 
only at the cost of a few kind words. 

The next two months I spent at Towanda construct- 
ing a county map, for which I received $110.00. This 
sum enabled me to pay nearly all the debts I had been 
obliged to incur in my studentship, and also to buy a 
little fat chubby pony about as large as two wether 
sheep and about as good a roadster for travel- 
ing, a new bridle and saddle and a portmanteau. 
Putting my spare clothing into the saddle-bag, boxing 
up my library consisting of Blackstone's Com- 
mentary, Peake's Evidence, Gibson's Surveying and 



22 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

a few miscellaneous books with my surveyor's compass 
and the balance of my wardrobe in a small deer-skin 
covered trunk (which I had made when a boy, about 
the close of November, 1826 ) , I mounted my pony and 
turned its head toward the West. 

On the top of the hill west from the Village I 
looked upon the quiet town nestling along the slope 
of the hill facing the river, and cast a momentary 
glance upon the smooth, silvery shining surface of 
that placid stream as it flowed from the rugged moun- 
tains of the southern counties of the State of New 
York, — Chemung, Steuben, Broome and Chenango 
— toward the Chesapeake Bay and thence to the 
Ocean. I took in a momentary view of the bold, 
high and rocky mountain which rose like a projecting 
promontory almost from the bed of the river on its 
eastern shore to the height of nearly a thousand feet. 
On its summit, gained by a circuitous path, I 
with a merry troup of young men and maidens of the 
village had often stood of a pleasant Sunday after- 
noon to view the town and admire the landscape ex- 
tending up and down the river, and its valley dotted 
with farms, farm houses, orchards and intervening 
woodlands. Here we had often gathered together 
on the table of a large projecting rock, standing a 
little below the summit and nearly perpendicular, 
and listened to a little speech from my friend Ingham 
or me, descanting on the beauties of the scenery 
with which some imaginative poetic thought was sure 
to be mingled. Now a crowd of memories burst upon 
my emotional feelings and in an instant, I shed an 
involuntary tear, and mentally rehearsed that pa- 
thetic line of Lord Byron's " Farewell ! and if forever, 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 23 

still, farewell ! " and bent my course toward my fu- 
ture home among the forests of McKean County. 

The country from Towanda to Wellsboro was 
mainly settled by thrifty farmers. At Columbia 
Flats a young man, whose name was Black, on horse- 
back, on his way to Kinzua, overtook me, and we 
journeyed on together. We stopped at the Phoenix 
tavern on Pine Creek to feed the horses and for 
dinner. The tavern was a small log house, and as 
there was no landlord or hostler we got a mess of oats 
for each horse and fed them ourselves. The only 
barn was a one-roof shed entirely open on one side, 
and in a tumbled down condition with one manger and 
no hay. A large flock of hens leisurely walked about, 
and as the horses fed they commenced a furious on- 
set upon the oats to see which could secure the most 
of the treasure. While partaking of our plain frugal 
dinner we heard the deep-mouthed baying of hounds 
and going to the door and looking up the road to a 
sawmill we saw a man running at full speed with a 
rifle in one hand, and a powder horn in the other hand, 
and a dog at his heels, no hat on, wearing a coat like 
Joseph of old, of many colors, with its tattered skirts 
fluttering in the breeze, presenting, a lifelike picture 
of the thriftless, indolent hunter and thoroughbred 
back-woodsman. I thought that man presented an 
ill-omened harbinger of the new country which I was 
seeking. Whether he killed the deer the hounds were 
driving to the creek, I did not wait to ascertain. 

I thought the Pine Creek Valley presented the most 
unpromising and forbidding appearance of any coun- 
try I had ever seen; the flats being very narrow, the 
hills very steep, rough, stony, even rocky and totally 



24 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

unfit for cultivation, and hills so high as nearly to 
be mountains, some reaching, I should think, a thou- 
sand or more feet high. The hills were covered in 
places with pine timber, but after that shall have been 
cut off, the country must remain a sterile, barren re- 
gion forever — so it appeared to me then ; how it 
might seem to me if I saw it now, I cannot tell. At 
the Canoe Place (now Port Allegheny) we fell in 
with Moses Hana who regularly carried the mail from 
Smethport to Jersey Shore once in two weeks. We 
came over the hill, or rather mountain, I should call 
it, one of the most gloomy, lonesome and disagreeable 
roads I ever traveled; all woods, the trees large and 
numerous, and the road being quite narrow shut out 
the sight of the sun, — if it had shone in December, 
which it rarely does in our latitude and climate, — 
forming over us a complete canopy of dark, gloomy 
evergreens. The road was rocky in places, and stony 
nearly all, with innumerable roots of the trees inter- 
laced in the bed of the road for the horses to get over 
as best they could, at the risk of breaking a leg at 
every step, mud often kneedeep, and the more wet or 
swampy places ornamented for a crossing with an 
execrable corduroy or pole bridge. 

We slowly groped our way for nine long and seem- 
ingly endless miles to the foot of the hill east of 
Smethport ; then for near half a mile we found another 
of those most intolerable of all bridges, made of logs 
and poles. Then crossing Potato or Nunundab 
Creek, arrived at the Red Tavern, kept by the Widow 
Williard in Smethport. Mrs. Williard was not a 
widow, but as her husband had lately gone to the 
South, and left her to take care of herself and child, 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 25 

she became landlady and kept up the tavern as a 
means of support. 

It being long after dark when we arrived the bar- 
room was pretty well filled with men, who just then 
had nothing else to do. After supper we rejoined 
the men in the barroom who were quite civil and 
neighborly, one of them who seemed a leading man 
among them, after inquiring whence we came and 
what we came for and learning of our proposed set- 
tling as a lawyer, asked me what spelling books were 
in use now. I felt my dignity as a lawyer put to the 
test, and was rather mortified that I should be asked 
such an undignified question, and replied under the 
infliction of a little mortified pride, that it was so 
long since I had been in the elementary school that I 
hardly knew what spellers were now in use, but I 
believed " Dillworth's " were going out and " Web- 
ster's " coming into use. Had he asked me some 
grave question of law, I should have felt much more 
elevated, at least in my own estimation. 

On retiring for the night I passed through a small 
dining-room, which adjoined the kitchen, from that 
to my bedroom which was adjoining the barroom. It 
so happened that a married man and woman were 
then occupying a room immediately back of the din- 
ing-room, and at about ten o'clock at night the woman 
was in her accouchement, and I was kept awake by 
neighboring women passing through the dining-room 
to the sick woman's room every few minutes, back and 
forward to the kitchen. In the barroom the men kept 
up a continual cross-fire of conversation with an oc- 
casional outburst of laughter, so to me sleep was 
impossible. About twelve I heard apparently the 



26 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

sound of one person, then another falling on the bar- 
room floor, accompanied by a sound of laughter. 
This I inferred resulted from one man pushing an- 
other off his chair and landing him on the floor. This 
to me intolerable nuisance was kept up until nearly 
morning, when the denizens of the barroom dispersed. 
I rose in the morning feverish, nervous and excit- 
able, fully determined to return to Towanda and take 
my chance there, rather than to settle in so outlandish 
a place as Smethport; but destiny had ordained it 
otherwise. In the course of the morning Mr. Paul 
E. Sculle (whom I had before met with while at 
Towanda) and Judge Sartwell called on me and in- 
vited me to walk with them to the new brick court 
house which was then being finished. The road in 
what we now call Main Street was a quagmire of 
mud from beginning to end, and from ankle to knee- 
deep in a reddish, brown clayey mortar. We had to 
pick our way by the fences to avoid miring in the 
mud. The court house looked quite imposing as it 
stood almost alone on what was designed as the Pub- 
lic Square, with not more than a dozen houses in 
what was to be the county town. On the way up to 
the court house Messrs. Sartwell and Sculle offered 
me a retaining fee of fifty dollars as their counsel, 
they being the owners of the only store then in Smeth- 
port. The sun shone that day for me and the birch 
and maple trees along Marvin Creek appeared more 
pleasant and inviting than the dark gloomy hemlocks 
along the old state road over the hill. I recovered 
my spirits and cheered up a little, thought the near 
future looked brighter and decided to stay in Smeth- 
port. I secured permission to occupy the west wing 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 27 

of the court house, had a pine-board, cross-legged 
table made, borrowed a chair for a seat for myself, 
got a wooden bench made for a seat for my clients; 
spread my law library of Blackstone and Peake's 
Evidence and a borrowed copy of the first and oldest 
edition of Pardon's Digest, on the cross-legged pine 
table, and took my seat at the table, and there was 
opened the first law office ever established at Smeth- 
port, being about the 1st of December, 1826. 

At this period of the history in this county juris- 
prudence had not reached the highest standard of 
legal perfection as I was currently informed that a 
worthy Justice of the Peace, who afterward became 
one of our associate Judges, had issued a summons 
against a person for a debt due the plaintiff, and 
rendered judgment against the defendant for six 
yards of calico (the number of yards, in those days, 
necessary for a woman's dress). The same justice 
had rendered judgment against another man for 
twenty-five hundred sawlogs, and as when the execu- 
tions for these debts were issued the constable did not 
for the life of him know how to legally execute the 
fi fas, the debts were never paid, nor the judgments 
canceled. And seriously [we are not surprised] when 
we recollect that the Knickerbocker History of New 
York reported by Irving relates the case of a New 
York Alderman who had a case before him involving 
the settlement of a book account between a plaintiff 
and a defendant. The Dutch alderman (who had 
once been in a grocery line, and accustomed to weigh- 
ing things) saw no way of deciding the case than by 
weighing the account books of the respective parties, 
which he did, and finding that the defendant's book 



28 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

weighed the most rendered his decision of no cause 
of action, and that the constable should pay the costs. 
This alderman was never troubled with suits founded 
on book accounts. Another Justice of the Peace of 
this county, about this time, issued a summons against 
a party in an action for slander. The defendant 
asked for a reference, and the cause was referred to 
five referees, before whom the case was finally tried, 
one of the parties employing a New York State lawyer, 
while the other party only succeeded in securing the 
services of a pettifogger (I believe the pettifogger re- 
covered |5.00 damages). 

In another case in this county a party applied to 
a foreign lawyer, then practicing at the McKean 
County bar, for advise as to how to get a man out, 
who had wrongfully taken possession of a sawmill 
owned by the plaintiff. The lawyer, who was then a 
little young in practice, advised his client to bring 
an action in replevin, but as the client did not think 
it advisable to follow this advice, the case was 
dropped. 

The trial of causes in the lower court were not then 
conducted in the most orderly and dignified manner, 
but things went on more on the democratic principle 
of perfect equality, being below the standard of that 
order with which afterwards similar causes were con- 
ducted in New England, where there is as much 
order, dignity and even solemnity practiced in a 
Justice Court as in conducting a funeral service in 
a Puritan church. ■ 

The first cause I assisted to try at Smethport was 
before a Court at which the magistrate held his com- 
missions by the grace of the Governor of the State, 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 29 

as Justice of the Peace, and was held at the barroom 
of the Williard Tavern. A man living in the remote 
part of the county who owned a sawmill was prose- 
cuted by one of his employees on a charge of assault 
and battery with intent to kill. I was employed for 
the defense, and an old pettifogger whom we called 
Counselor T. appeared for the prosecution. The 
Counselor was a large, strong man, illiterate, with 
some gift of the gab, and an unlimited quantity of 
self-assurance. The barroom was crowded full of 
spectators as the trial of cause before a Justice of the 
Peace would in these times, in a new place, draw as 
large a house as a circus or a menagerie would to-day. 
Lawyers do not as a general thing sympathize very 
much with pettifoggers. I proposed to give my op- 
ponent a hard run and was very technical as to the 
admission of evidence. The Justice was a kind and 
obliging man, and would listen to the whole of the 
argument, whether the speaker spoke once or six 
times to the same question. Elick Hall, a tall lanky 
fellow, as illiterate and self-reliant as the Counselor, 
was the bartender. I prevailed on him to assist me, 
purposing by that means to meet my opponent with 
his own kind of weapon and metal. 

So the battle began. When I had made my objec- 
tion to the evidence, and exhausted my argument, the 
Counselor would answer ; then I would wink to Elick, 
who would stop for the nonce dealing out whisky at 
the bar, assume the position of an advocate before the 
Court, then smacking his lips and almost foaming 
at the mouth with vehemence, he would spout away 
until exhausted for want both of breath and ideas. 
The Counselor would reply to Elick, until the trial 



30 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

was not ended before sunset, when the Justice de- 
cided by holding the defendant to bail, to appear be- 
fore the Court of Quarter Sessions. But as the defen- 
dant soon drove the prosecutor off from his premises 
and compelled him to leave his wife as a hostage to 
secure a small debt, due to the mill owner, which the 
prosecutor could not pay, he left the State and, failing 
to appear to prosecute at the Sessions, nothing more 
came of the suit, and as the hostage was never called 
for nor returned the millman was satisfied. 

Two lawyers seem as necessary to get up and 
manage a suit at law as a pair of shears are to get up 
and fit a suit of new clothes ; the blades of the shears 
answering to the clients and the handles of the shears 
to the lawyers. But some people are unkind enough 
to think that the offices of the lawyers would be better 
illustrated by the figure of a pair of nut crackers, the 
lawyers each holding a handle of the implement, 
cracking the nut between them, each lawyer taking 
half of the kernel of the nut, and leaving the clients 
nothing but the shucks, and the fun of the thing for 
their part of the enterprise. Be this opinion right or 
wrong, lawyers are always tolerated in society, per- 
haps viewed as a necessary evil, and generally re- 
spected. One thing may be well said of them, that, 
rarely if ever an exception, they are true to their 
clients. 

About the third week in December, 1826, John W. 
Howe came here to settle, ostensibly assuming the 
character of a schoolmaster, seeking employment as a 
teacher, but as he had no baggage but a small wooden 
box, which on being opened proved to contain nothing 
but law books, it was at once found out that he was 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 31 

not a pedagogue but a lawyer; he was a sensible, 
honorable, energetic man, something of a wag and 
quite eccentric. He remained at Smethport about 
six years, and moved to Franklin, Pennsylvania. He 
came here from Cattaraugus County, New York. 

In the following May, Thomas Fuller, a young law- 
yer, from Bethany, Pennsylvania, came here to settle, 
but only remained a few months, and returned to 
Bethany. Thus a legal bench as well as a legal bar 
became in this county an established and accomplished 
fact, and the law-going public no longer suffered 
through want of lawyers or judges, and has been 
amply supplied with both to this day. 

In the spring of '27, a suit was brought before the 
Justice of the Peace, involving a settlement on book 
account, and other counterclaims. The plaintiff, 
thinking he had a plain sure case, employed Counselor 
T. to conduct his case. I was retained for the defense. 
Being a little mischievous and wishing to have a little 
fun out of it at the expense of the pettifogger, I pre- 
vailed upon Howe and Fuller to join me in trying the 
case. I was very technical, even captious, as to evi- 
dence, the magistrate was very obliging, and there 
was a protracted trial at the west wing of the court 
house, lasting nearly all day. When an objection 
was taken each lawyer made a long speech, some part 
of the argument relevant but more of it irrelevant. 
The Counselor at first was cool and stoical, but as the 
battle of words raged fiercer he became restive and 
uneasy, and finding such an interminable shower of 
words to contend with became fierce and angry, while 
the unfeeling trio of lawyers laughed at his discomfi- 
ture ; then he sank moodily into his seat and resigned 



32 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

to his condition of apparently stoical indifference. 
The case went against him, he left the court room and 
I never met with him as an antagonist again. He soon 
after moved from this county to the State of New 
York and returned here no more. The Counselor was 
not a hard fellow after all, but rather a clever fellow 
at heart, and had he been content to occupy the shoe- 
maker's bench of his trade, and not have aspired to the 
position of an advocate, for which he was not fitted 
by education or legal training, he might have done 
well enough ; but as it turned he was ingloriously van- 
quished, mortified in mind and doubtless lean in 
purse. 

WE GO TO A WEDDING PARTY AND HAVE A SLEIGH RIDE 

In the winter of 1826-27 our young village doctor 
was to be married to a sister of Henry Scott, who re- 
sided about nine miles from Smethport at Nunundah 
(Potato) Creek. The Misses Newell, Miss Sally 
Bailey, Mr. W. Howe, Asa Sartwell and I were in- 
vited among the guests. We hired a Mr. Farr, who 
had a smart pair of horses and a two-horse sleigh, as 
our liveryman ; as it was good sleighing we had a good 
ride to the party. I accompanied Miss Sally. We 
all spent the evening pleasantly around an old- 
fashioned large open fireplace, well filled with blaz- 
ing wood. 

As a part of the evening's entertainment I was 
called upon to say something. I responded by de- 
claiming that spirited poem " Collin's Ode to the Pas- 
sions." The idea of declaiming with a little dramatic 
acting was then a new thing in the backwoods. When 
I reached the tragic acting scene in the poem, one of 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 33 

the young ladies became agitated and alarmed, sprung 
from her chair, and overturned it, perhaps thinking 
I was going crazy ; however, she recovered her pres- 
ence of mind and the evening was concluded as most 
wedding parties are, all the guests feeling merry and 
their imaginations a little exhilarated. 

During the evening a fresh snow had fallen nearly 
a foot deep; our party loaded up in the sleigh and 
started to return in good spirits, and as the moon 
then shone out bright and clear, and the sleigh glided 
smoothly on, I gave vent to sundry poetically roman- 
tic remarks as we rode rather swiftly along. But as 
the new snow had covered the beaten track, our driver 
unfortunately reigned his horses so the upper side 
sleigh runner passed over the sloping side of the rock, 
which projected into the road. The whole party was 
upset and unceremoniously plunged into a snowdrift 
on the lower side of the road. Finding no one hurt, 
we disencumbered ourselves of our cold fleecy cover- 
ing of snow, uniting in a roaring fit of laughter, and 
reseated ourselves in the sleigh, finding we were about 
half way home. We sat at first demurely, feeling 
that the snowdrift had effectually chilled our excited 
imaginations, and quenched our youthful exhilara- 
tions of spirits. We attempted to rally by raising a 
laugh at our mishap, but our attempt sounded more 
like a chattering of teeth than a cachinnating roar of 
merriment and we gradually subsided in moody 
silence and rode on until when we had got on the cor- 
duroy bridge suddenly things took a more lively turn. 
The horses became refractory, one of them began to 
kick furiously, and as his shoes struck against each 
other the sparks of fire flew from them like sparks 



34 LIFE AND WOBKS OF 

emitted by a flint and steel. The dashboard and end- 
board were soon demolished, the whiffletree loosened 
from the sleigh tongue, the holdback straps broken 
and the horses were clear from the sleigh, the fore 
part of the vehicle was a wreck, and our party was 
sitting up majestically in the middle of the road and 
left thus suddenly to our own reflections. We were a 
mile and a half from the village at two o'clock at 
night, and no way to proceed but to take to our feet, 
to get home. 

The men took the van, going before the calvacade 
and breaking the road, the girls following after, In- 
dian file, and drabbling through the snow a foot deep. 
The walk home was performed in almost unbroken 
silence, all of us feeling chagrined and mortified by dis- 
appointment and discomfort. I saw Miss Sally home 
and found her kind-hearted mother had left a warm 
comfortable fire in the fireplace. I remained long 
enough to warm myself, bowed myself out and re- 
turned to my lodgings, thinking as I waded through 
the snow half a mile home I had no wish to renew the 
experience that winter, and I did not. 

WE HAVE ANOTHER RIDE, BUT A SLED RIDE THIS TIME 

Soon after the wedding-party ride, the same party 
from the village and others, among whom was my wife, 
then a girl, were invited to an evening's gathering of 
young folks up in Sleepy Hollow at Deacon Taylor's, 
about a mile west of the village. As our former 
liveryman had left, we engaged my friend Elick, who 
owned a slow yoke of oxen and a large commodious 
ox sled, to take us to the gathering. Bundles of straw 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 35 

were strewn over the bottom boards of the sled, the 
girls packed into it, the young men either sitting on 
the sled raves with their feet dangling, or standing 
up on the sled runners and holding on by the 
stakes. We made a slow trip but had a comfortable, 
safe and pleasant ride to this party. 

We found a good-sized room in a log house, warmed 
by a huge, old-fashioned, open fireplace, with a back- 
log a foot and half over, and not less than a quarter 
of a cord of wood blazing and burning in front. The 
evening was spent as at other parties in those times, in 
playing Button Snap and Catch 'Em, and other plays 
of that sort. Mrs, Deacon Taylor was there in the 
prime of life, and she is still living ; she was smart and 
active then, and though forty-seven years older than 
at that time, is now hale, smart and active physically. 

The party broke up at a seasonable hour and we all 
prepared for our ride home and we were arranged in 
the order in which we had proceeded in going to the 
party. The night was unusually clear and brilliant, 
the crescent moon was up and equally balancing her 
two silvery horns, the skies had lit their thousand 
starry lamps, the galaxy of the milky way was mildly 
shedding its soft ethereal light while unbroken silence 
reigned throughout the valley. When the party was 
seated, Elick began belaboring his team with his ox 
goad and set in such a loud gee up ! gee up ! gee up ! on ! 
on ! that the night owl must have been frightened from 
his perch on a limb of an old tree on the hill top, and 
the timid hawk skulked to his hiding-place in the 
brushwood. The voice of the ox driver could have 
been heard nearly as far as the sound of our court 
house bell, making the hillsides reverberate with its 



36 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

echoes. So we were moved a little faster towards 
home, as we gradually rose toward the summit of the 
divide, which separates Sleepy Hollow from the vil- 
lage. When at the top of the hill Elick gave a yell 
to his oxen that made us think for the moment that 
the Indians were upon us, he walloped the team with 
his goad, impelled the oxen to a full gallop and down 
the hill we swiftly glided, the girls singing " Auld 
Lang Syne," the men keeping time with their feet to 
keep them warm. We all merrily enjoyed ourselves 
and had as much fun as if we were riding in a grand 
pleasure sleigh, wrapped in fur robes and drawn by 
four spirited, prancing horses, or riding in Cinder- 
ella's pumpkin-shell coach with mice transformed 
into horses and a metamorphosed rat for a coachman. 
Arriving at home all right — three cheers for Elick 
and the ride was done, the evening's entertainment 
over, and the curtain fell. 

MY SURVEYING EXPERIENCES 

Before I begin this experience, I may as well say a 
word about rats. Mr. Applebee owned a gristmill in 
what is now called Mechanicsburg. The eaves of the 
mill were so constructed as to form a most excellent 
rat harbor, and has long been the general rendezvous 
or headquarters for that sort of vermin. It contained 
scores and probably hundreds of those little delectable 
animals, which are said to make an excellent fricassee, 
or soup, so much relished by our brethren, the celestial 
Chinamen. 

On the first of April, '27 (All Fools' Day), Howe 
and Asa Sartwell went over to the mill, got one very 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 37 

long, slim pole and two smaller, shorter ones, got a 
man to take the long pole and punch it in among the 
rats at one end of the eaves, while they each seized a 
short pole. The rats being routed ran down the sides 
of the mill on the post casings to the ground on the 
lower side, and ran inland to escape for their lives. 
Howe and Sartwell gave chase with the short poles, 
hallowing and screaming to the fullest extent of their 
voices, both of which were keyed by nature like the 
heaviest bass of an organ pipe, their screaming and 
yelling was distinctly heard all over the village and 
much resembled the cries of a band of Comanche In- 
dians on a rampage of the warpath; the day's sport 
netted over a hundred rats slain on the field. This 
day we called Rat Day. 

My experiences as a surveyor were not long in dura- 
tion, and only occupied portions of time at intervals 
during the springs and summers of 1827-28-29. 

In my excursions about the country I uniformly 
found that the new settlers were living plain but com- 
fortably, neatness and good housewifery were almost 
always prominent, the table amply supplied with fried 
pork, bacon, ham or venison, with splendid mealy po- 
tatoes, good bread and butter with dried apple sauce 
(if any sauce was used, as green apples were then gen- 
erally unattainable, orchards being not yet set out). 
The sauce was varied in berry time, when we had excel- 
lent berry fruit and always a cup of tea, coffee then 
was not much in use. With this kind of living I gen- 
erally satisfied a good appetite, but as constitutionally 
I had a fastidious stomach, occasionally I found it im- 
possible to eat a square meal, owing to some of the (to 
me) unpleasant surroundings. Once on going into a 



38 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

settler's house for dinner I saw crawling about the 
room a domestic hedgehog, one of the slowest, most 
awkward, most repulsive and disgusting animals, as I 
think, that inhabits this part of the world. The 
dinner had been carefully and neatly prepared and 
was abundant and inviting, but to see on the floor that 
hideous, disgusting little brute crawling about was 
too much for my fastidious stomach, and I was com- 
pelled to rise from the table scarcely able to eat half a 
meal, and seek outdoor scenery for relief, thinking 
porcupines ought not to live in the same house with 
humans. 

At another time, going into a settler's house for 
breakfast, I found in the room a domestic bear's cub, 
about four months old, walking about the room 
leisurely as though he were one of the children belong- 
ing to the family. When we sat at the table the 
young whelp came nosing around, thrusting his head 
between the sitters, to smell the tempting viands 
and mutely ask for his share, it cost me a strong 
physical and mental effort to swallow one mouthful 
of breakfast and I rose with having eaten no more 
than a very scanty meal, less than half my usual 
breakfast, heartily wishing that the bear had never 
been created, or that my hosts had divided, and the 
bear made to occupy a den by himself. 

At another time I was one of a surveying party 
engaged in making a route for a turnpike, with a party 
of seven and a packhorse and a packhorseman to 
convey our supplies. We stopped one day for dinner 
near a roadside brook and seeing a small log house 
close by, the packhorseman looked into the door to see 
if it would be a good place to dine. Observing things 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 39 

looked suspiciously dirty, he reported that we would 
better take dinner under the shade of a tree that stood 
near by. We seated ourselves on the grass plot and 
the packman distributed our rations of bread, meat, a 
little butter and cheese, and began our meal; when 
we saw, without knowing where he came from, one of 
the meanest looking, scurvy, starved six-weeks-old pig 
I ever had seen among us, nosing and fiercely, without 
the remotest fear, rooting his snout along the side of 
our legs and poking his nose into our laps, determined 
at all hazards to share in our dinner ; when we kicked 
him away from one side he immediately appeared at 
and attacked the other side. The nuisance became in- 
tolerable and some one proposed knocking him on the 
head with a stone. But looking toward the house I 
saw the good woman who was mistress of the premises, 
standing in the door surveying the attack of her favor- 
ite pig. Directly she came toward us with her apron 
spread out before her, holding the two lower corners 
by each hand, thus forming what resembled an old- 
fashioned grain pan, or a modern railroad cowcatcher, 
she adroitly marched up behind the pig, and heroically 
scooped up her pet in her apron and moved back to the 
house in triumph, for she smiled as she carried off her 
captive. One of the men at her request rewarded the 
young woman for her kindness by setting the compass 
and making for her a noon mark across her doorsill, 
that she might know, if the sun shone, exactly the 
time when the sun crossed the meridian. 

An account given me by the late Judge Eldred 
shows still another phase of new country life. Many 
years ago he was returning from the Brookville Court 
to Warren in company with two or three lawyers, on 



40 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

horseback. As they were passing at or near Wetmore 
Township in this county they came to the Tionesta 
Creek. As it was much raised by a late heavy rain, it 
could not be forded; they got a man who lived near 
the bank of the creek to swim their horses by the side 
of a canoe across the stream and land them on the 
other side, and afterwards take them across in the 
canoe. As the weather was cold the judge went to the 
house to warm while the man took the horses across. 
On opening the door of the log cabin he saw placed in 
the middle of the floor on four upright crotched sticks, 
with cross-pieces for a support, a smooth cucumber- 
wood sap-trough, containing a huge quantity of mush 
and milk, while five fine looking, healthy, bare-headed, 
restless, coatless, and bare-footed boys stood around 
the trough eating their dinner. They had but two 
spoons for the five boys, so they took turns in their 
use, and as they seemed to possess enquiring minds, 
the two boys last using the spoons would run to the 
door, take a furtive glance at the lawyers as they and 
their father were swimming the horses across, and 
immediately return to their charge on the contents of 
the trough. Eldred watched the boys attentively and 
saw they had intelligent faces and were smart for their 
positions. When he left, the bottom of the pudding 
trough had not yet been reached, and he might have 
reflected that possibly at some future day, in the land 
of equality and freedom, one of those boys might 
occupy a judge's bench and thus (figuratively) wear 
the judicial ermine. 

My surveying experiences proved that my physical 
constitution was not adapted to such employment. 
Staying in camp at night with less than half a supper 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 41 

and walking the next day fifteen miles through the 
trackless forest, climbing one hill up two miles and 
then down two miles, and then repeat without food or 
rest until five p. m. ; sitting up all night without fire 
or supper under a dry chestnut tree in a windfall and 
then walking nine miles to breakfast; sitting up sup- 
perless all night on a bark for a seat, and leaning my 
back against a green hemlock tree for a pillow and it 
raining all night, and then walking eight miles for 
breakfast, etc., etc., were experiences too much for 
my nature and I abandoned that branch of my busi- 
ness and thenceforth gave my time to my profession. 

SMETHPORT WAS TO HAVE AN UNITED STATES PORT 
OF ENTRY, BUT DID NOT 

Benjamin B. Cooper and others became the owners 
of a large body of wild lands in the central part of the 
county in 1812-13. Mr. Cooper was a bold, daring 
and energetic and very active man but somewhat 
eccentric and a visionary in business. He proposed 
building up a town in the forest in an instant and 
therefrom called it Instantar. He conceived the idea, 
and proposed to carry it out, of applying to Congress 
to establish by law a port of entry at the locality 
where the Potato Creek Bridge, just east of Smeth- 
port, now stands, built a wharf then for the landing 
of boats which were to ascend the Ohio and Allegheny 
Rivers and Smethport to the head of navigation on 
the Allegheny waters, the river to be empowered and 
rendered navigable by an appropriation from Con- 
gress. It was currently reported to me when I came 
to Smethport that this was a true story, and that Mr. 
Cooper actually proposed to a man to get out the 



42 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

timber for the wharf and it is a fact that he purchased 
twenty-one acres of land on the west side of Potato 
Creek near the bridge on which to erect a town at the 
port of entry. 

I also heard the statement from credible authority 
that Mr. Cooper persuaded a young man whose father 
had left to him a considerable amount of property to 
go up from Philadelphia where he resided to Instantar 
and there establish a wholesale dry goods store and 
supply the large population which was sure to rush in 
to settle the new and cheap land of his hundred 
thousand acre purchase, like a new swarm of bees rush- 
ing into their new beehive. The young man traveled 
from Jersey Shore in Lycoming County on horseback 
through the woods, guided by a blind and almost im- 
passable wagon road, to the young city of Instantar 
and found there only a small lot of ground cleared 
and two log houses, a boarding house for the chop- 
pers who were working to clear the land after- 
ward known as the Cooper or Instantar clearing, near 
Bunker Hill in this county. Taking in the whole 
situation at a single glance, the young Philadelphian, 
chagrined, mortified and disappointed, immediately 
started on his return to the City of Brotherly Love, 
through the same wild country by which he had come, 
perhaps thinking over the story of " The journey of a 
day, a picture of human life " as experienced by 
" Obidah the son of Abersina " of his schoolboy mem- 
ory, and thankful for his fortunate escape from the 
perils of the forest. 

Instantar, which was brought into being as the cre- 
ation of the imagination of its author, was formed like 
a bubble filled with air and soon collapsed by its own 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 43 

weight and is now only like a myth or a dream and 
remembered only as a legend of the past. 

SETTLERS' ENCOUNTER WITH WILD ANIMALS 

A few encounters with wild animals by the early 
settlers may be worth recounting. At an early period 
of the settlement of this county bears were not uncom- 
mon to be met with by the hunters. Samuel Beck- 
with, Sen., met with one, and fired his rifle at it. See- 
ing he had wounded it but that it was likely to get 
away and thinking he would not have time to reload 
his rifle, he ran to it with nothing but his hunting knife 
for a weapon. The bear stood on the defensive, raised 
on his hind feet, and when the hunter reached him, 
received him in his strong bony arms and gave him 
a passionate but unfriendly hug. The encounter 
was a fierce one; the bear hugged and scratched and 
tore and bit and came near gaining the field of con- 
quest. But the hunter by great strength and dex- 
terity finally succeeded in giving Bruin a fatal thrust 
with his hunting knife. The hunter was severely 
scratched and torn by the sharp, powerful claws of 
the brute ; one scar mark left by Bruin on the hunter's 
face was very conspicuous the remainder of his life, 
and he carried with him to the grave the indubitable 
evidence of his fight with the bear. 

About the same time an old hunter by the name of 
Jacob Vannatter of Potter County had a very similar 
experience with a bear, and as he was much older 
than Beckwith, though an experienced hunter, he had 
lost some of his wiry dexterity of movement and the 
bear tore the clothes nearly all off from the old 
hunter. In fact, he barely escaped with his life, and 



44 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

was a long time recovering so far as to be able to 
walk again. He also carried through life the mark 
of the ferocious fight with the bear. 

While exploring the turnpike route, with Beckwith 
for our packhorseman, as he followed our party at 
some distance behind us, and was guiding his horse 
along an old abandoned road leading down North 
Creek, he started up a wolf that had been sleeping in 
the path. He came upon his wolfship so suddenly 
that the animal in his fright in seeking to escape, in- 
stead of jumping over a big log that lay at the lower 
side of the path, attempted to spring under it, but 
found the opening between the log and the ground 
too small to admit his passage and got his head and 
fore shoulders fast under the log. Beckwith sprang 
upon him and seized him by the one hind leg with 
one hand, took his jackknife from his pocket with the 
other hand, opened the blade with his teeth and cut 
off the hamstrings of the wolf. Thus being totally 
disabled for travel the animal became an easy prey 
to the huntsman, and at dinner our packman brought 
in the skin and the scalp of the wolf as trophies of 
the morning's hunting experience. Few men would 
have had the courage to have seized and held so fero- 
cious an animal, by so uncertain a tenure. 

A few years after William Lewis of Shippen, then 
in this county, tracked a wolf to her den among the 
rocks, but could not see her from the mouth of the 
cave. He got another man to join him and they to- 
gether went to the cave. Lewis made a pitch pine 
torch, lighted it and armed with only his hunting 
knife, entered the mouth of the cave. Telling his 
companion (who I believe was Benj. Freeman, armed 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 45 

with a loaded rifle ) , to shoot the old wolf the minute 
she appeared at the mouth of the den, Lewis crowded 
along into the cave and after a while saw the old 
wolf, her eyes glaring with rage, snapping, snarling 
and growling and showing her long white teeth and 
fiery red tongue, but the hunter kept fearlessly on. 
Anon the wolf rushed past him with the fury of the 
whirlwind, nearly crushing him in the narrow pas- 
sage ; and the wolf, on reaching the cave's mouth, was 
instantly shot and killed by Lewis' friend. Lewis 
still pressed onward and seizing the wolf's two whelps 
by the napes of their necks, one in each hand, carried 
them out of the den in safety. 

Freeman was a large, strong man, but Lewis was 
a spare, slender man, very muscular and wiry, with 
dark hair and jet black expressive eyes, the very im- 
personation of dauntless courage. 

Many years ago, when the salt works on the Portage 
Marsh in the southeast part of this county were in 
operation, a Mr. McGee, a large, strong, rough, hardy 
lumberman, went to a deer lick a mile or more from 
the works one night to watch for a deer. Looking 
from his blind in the early part of the evening he 
saw the eyes of some animal gleaming through the 
lower branches of a large tree not far distant. He 
thought it was a wild cat, and steadily taking his aim 
fired at its eyes. The night being clear he saw the 
animal as it fell from the tree, disclosing the form 
of a huge panther, and knowing their ferocity when 
wounded and not being sure that he had killed it, he 
ran with all his speed without stopping until he 
reached the house at the works, declaring that he 
would never watch a deer lick again alone. On look- 



46 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

ing for the panther next morning, with a man who 
had accompanied him, they found it dead, and the 
largest one ever killed in this part of the State. I 
may add that a panther has rarely, if ever, been seen 
in this county for very many years past. Poor Mac 
must have been badly scared. 

Before Nathan Dennis moved to Eldred to settle, 
and while yet quite a boy, his father took him with him 
a mile or two from home to hoe corn. They had a hoe 
to plow the corn and the father carried his gun. 
On returning home in the evening his father saw 
something moving along among the bushes near the 
road that resembled a dog, but it moved like a wild 
animal. He was riding behind his father on the 
horse. His father told him he would slide off from 
the horse on the opposite side from the animal and 
shoot, and as soon as he shot to spring forward, seize 
the horse's mane and let it go if it ran. All this was 
done and the boy clung to the mane and the horse 
ran without stopping until they got home. His 
father followed home on foot and next morning re- 
turned to the scene of action and found he had killed 
a panther, full grown and of unusually large size. 

Nathan, after settling while a young man at Eldred, 
was annoyed by some wild animal occasionally vic- 
timizing one of his hogs or sheep. He got a Mr. E. 
Larabee, one of his neighbors, to go with him. They 
searched the woods and tracked a large bear into a 
swamp, by the aid of their dogs. On coming to the 
edge of the swamp they heard the dogs barking fu- 
riously at something in the thicket. They prepared 
their guns and walked cautiously toward the dogs 
until they could see what was going on. They then 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 47 

saw a large bear sitting up on its haunches, defending 
itself against the dogs. As one dog approached on 
one side of old Bruin, he would strike the dog with 
one paw and knock that dog ten or a dozen feet 
sprawling on the ground to that side, and then the 
other dog came and was struck with the other paw 
and knocked to the other side. The hunters stood 
still and Dennis said to Larabee in a whisper, " We'll 
both shoot together. When I say ' now ' you shoot." 
They both drew up their rifles, Dennis said " now " 
and shot, and hearing but one report of a gun said to 
Larabee, " Why don't you shoot? " Larabee replied, 
" I have shot." They reloaded their rifles, walked 
slowly up to the bear and found it dead and examin- 
ing it they found but one ball-hole. However, on 
dressing the animal, they found two bullets in its 
body, and concluded that each of the men had shot 
his own bullet through the same hole. I write this 
story as I remember it as told to me. 

WE HAVE A FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATION 

I believe the first celebration of our Nation's birth- 
day of its Independence occurred in 1829 or '30. 
Ample preparations had been made to commemorate 
this, the most memorable and distinguished anniver- 
sary in the history of our country. 

The arrangements were consummated by erecting 
a splendid hickory liberty pole on the public square 
opposite what is now the Bennet House and hoisting 
to its top a flag of the Stars and Stripes, the emblem 
of the nation's freedom. A long table made of newly 
sawed pine boards, resting on temporary support 
ranging east and west along the Court House square, 



48 LIFE AND WOKKS OF 

shaded by boughs of fresh green-leafed trees as a 
roofing, resting on short poles driven into the ground 
with cross poles to support the roofing, with pine 
boards for seats or benches on each side of the table ; 
the whole intending to serve as a banqueting pavilion. 
The company was to assemble, or to use a military 
term rendezvous, at the lower tavern, then owned by 
Mr. William Williams and kept by a man I have now 
forgotten, there to form a procession and march to 
the Court House to hear the oration and thence to the 
dinner table. 

Jonathan Colgrove, Esq., was appointed marshal 
of the day, two or three clergymen were selected, one 
of whom was to act as chaplain, a drummer and fifer 
were obtained, and the writer of this sketch was se- 
lected as the orator for the occasion. The day was 
fair and propitious, a pretty large concourse of peo- 
ple in proportion to our then population assembled at 
the appointed time, 10 :00 o'clock a. m., and under 
the guidance of the marshal formed into procession 
in front of the lower tavern, each gentleman walking 
by the side of his lady partner. The marshal had 
been a military man as lieutenant in the War of 1812, 
accoutered in full military costume, but only wore 
a sword belt and carried his sword. He was a man 
of sterling good qualities, and inherited all the firm- 
ness, courage and indomitable energy that belonged 
to the character of his Puritan ancestors, the men of 
the Mayflower memory. As a faithful historian, I 
am obliged to say that but one little accident dis- 
tracted, in my judgment, somewhat from his military 
appearance. He wore a silk stove-pipe hat consider- 
ably dented on one side, in about that part of the hat 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 49 

where the cockade should have been worn, if it had 
one. This little fault in the marshal's equipment 
struck me as being entirely objectionable and un- 
military. It was not as would be said in modern 
times " a shocking bad hat/' but to use a French word 
was decidedly outre. 

Our fifer was Isaac Burlingame, the drummer's 
name I have forgotten; but this I know, that they 
seemed by their playing of stirring music to be ani- 
mated by patriotic ardor, to the fullest enthusiasm, 
as they sung out their shrill and booming music of 
marshal clangor and awakened the echoes of our 
quiet village by sounds before unknown. 

The marshal had selected thirteen picked men, each 
carrying either a rifle or a musket, to act as a military 
escort, and to symbolize the thirteen united inde- 
pendent original colonies. The concourse of people 
who formed the procession were all dressed in their 
best holiday clothes and made a highly creditable 
display as a civic procession. The orator was 
dressed, for the fashion of the times, in a faultless 
suit of black broadcloth, with a silk velvet vest and 
a gold wire, narrow, band-shaped, watch-guard chain 
dangling down the sides of the front side of the vest, 
with a gold watch in the fob. He, with the chaplains 
and committee of arrangement, headed the civic caval- 
cade. The military escort, headed by the music, took 
the van, the Court Hause bell was ringing, and the 
marshal, marching at the front by their side, with 
drawn sword, the point being held towards the zenith, 
and keeping military step with the music and his 
military bearing faultless as a soldier, the command 
" march " was given, the music began and the pro- 



50 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

cession moved up Main Street. When it arrived at 
the direct west line of the street, and first view of the 
Stars and Stripes floating in the breeze as it streamed 
from the top of the liberty pole, the patriotic energy 
and enthusiasm of the whole cavalcade seemed re- 
doubled by seeing the emblem of their country's free- 
dom and national grandeur displayed on that 
momentous occasion. The procession marched on- 
ward with zeal and alacrity until it arrived at the 
liberty pole, when the order was given to " wheel to 
the right," and the march continued to the front of 
the old Court House steps, and then, required to 
" halt." The escort divided, six men on one side of 
the walk and seven on the other, and at a sign from 
the marshal fired a grand national salute of thirteen 
guns (composed of flint-locked rifles and muskets) as 
nearly as they could be fired at the same time by the 
men, sounding more like a dozen fire crackers fired 
in an empty flour barrel than a salute of artillery. 
The procession marched in through between the files 
of soldiery, the men with uncovered heads (all but 
the orator of the day, who was so much elevated by 
the dignity of his station as orator of the day, that 
he barely touched the rim of his beaver with the tips 
of his fingers), and marched on with head erect, and 
up the stairs to the Court room, where the people 
were met by Asa Sartwell who appeared from the 
upper room of the west wing of the Court House, 
weirdly and wildly with his eyes protruding from 
their sockets with the effort of blowing and excite- 
ment of the occasion, vigorously playing on his clar- 
ionet, the old march " Fresh and Strong." The ex- 
cited manner of the player and the screaming sound 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 51 

of the instrument vividly brought to mind the old 
Scottish wandering harpers, and the bagpipe players 
in the ancient times of the feudal wars so relentlessly 
waged between the chiefs of the Clans of the Camp- 
bells and McGregors among the highland chiefs of 
Scotland of days of " lang syne/' reminding one of 
the song " The Campbells are coming, hurrah ! hur- 
rah ! " and the more recent wild cry of " Dinna ye 
hear the slogan " by the Scottish soldier's wife while 
battling in India. 

Presently the clarionet subsided, the audience came 
to order, the Declaration of Independence was read, 
I believe by Ozhea R. Bennett (but it may have been 
by John E. Mies), and the oration began. The room 
was densely crowded, the day was sweltering hot, and 
the oration, though thoughtfully prepared, was de- 
livered entirely ex tempore and was doubtless a very 
prosy affair, occupying a full hour and a half in its de- 
livery, and I have no doubt the audience was exceed- 
ing gratified when it was ended, and so was the orator, 
when he perceived to his mortification and disappoint- 
ment that his speech had produced no more enthu- 
siasm or apparent sensational effect upon the au- 
dience than had the bare reading of the Declaration 
of Independence by the reader. 

The people descended the stairs and the order was 
given again to form in procession. The procession 
then headed by the music, the marshal and the mili- 
tary marched after the music of the fife and the drum 
to the leaf -covered bower prepared for the banqueting 
hall, and marching up on each side of the table the 
ladies and gentlemen were seated on opposite sides. 
Grace having been said by the chaplain, a good din- 



52 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

ner which had been prepared by Mr. Allan Rice (who 
then kept the upper tavern, then belonging to Esquire 
Crow) was partaken of by the guests. As I leisurely 
cast my eye up and down the rustic pavilion I en- 
joyed the scene; every one seemed pleased. The 
bower was not artistically festooned with evergreens, 
nor was the clean tablecloth and glittering porcelain 
decorated with vases of flowers, — that idea is one out- 
growth of modern good taste and refinement, — but it 
looked sylvan, shady and to us who had seen it for 
the first time, with the long lines of cheerful, well- 
dressed people in the long vista, the scene as a whole 
was quite unique and attractive. 

Hiram Payne was chosen toastmaster and read the 
standing toasts from the head of the table; the mili- 
tary with the marshal were ranged on one side of the 
table, and as each toast was read, the marshal by a 
signal made by flashing his sword in the sun-lighted 
air indicated to the military simultaneously to fire a 
salute, which was well accomplished considering the 
number of the caliber of the ordinance extemporized 
for the occasion. Often the salute followed the 
cheers, one, two, three, according to order, which was 
always given in full chorus, and given with a will, 
until the men became hoarse from the effect of the 
oft repeated hurrah! hurrah! hurrah! 

Among the outsiders, not seated at the table, was 

an old man, Mr. G , who claimed to have been, 

but I believe was not, a Revolutionary soldier. He 
was a little short man of eighty summers, and very 
active for his age, but on this day of general glorifi- 
cation had imbibed a little too much. When the 
cheering went on and the venerated name of George 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 53 

Washington was alluded to in one of the standing 
toasts, the old gentleman joined in the cheering and 
each time he cried hurrah! he gave a spring up into 
the air as high as he could jump and shouted " hur- 
rah for George Washington ! " This was repeated 
over once, twice, but the third time he had become 
so patriotic and the good liquor had made him so 
boozy, the effort of jumping was too much for him 
and he fell prone to the ground and lay prostrate 
upon his back, which brought down a general roar of 
laughter from the bystanders. Some kind friends of 
his helped him into the tavern across the way and we 
saw no more of him that day. After the regular 
toasts were through with a good many volunteer 
speeches were given ; the only pledge used was the cold 
water beverage and they were all responded to with 
a patriotic vim and abundant good humor. Honor- 
able mention must be made of the fact that the assem- 
blage was graced by the presence of Deacon Edward 
Corwin, a soldier of the Revolutionary War of '76, 
who had given seven long years spent in the toils of 
war in the service of his country ; and in this connec- 
tion I barely mention the name of another of our 
worthy citizens, Col. Elihu Chadwick, who was a 
brave officer and did valuable service to our country 
in the struggle for national freedom, who I believe 
was not present on this occasion. 

The day had been spent pleasantly by most persons 
who attended, but I was tired and was chagrined by 
the recollection of the personal vanity I had displayed 
in wearing the gold guard chain so freely displayed, 
when no other person present wore one, which seemed 
to me a violation of the rule of republican simplicity 



54 LIFE AND WOKKS OF 

which I always cherished and which now mortified 
me that I had not vigorously observed it on this oc- 
casion. I gave the chain to my wife and never dis- 
played it again in this county for my own personal 
adornment. Thus was begun and thus was ended 
the first gala day at Smethport. The only complaint 
I heard was from the marshal, who said to me that 
" he couldn't make his men keep step with the music." 
I may add that this celebration occurred more than 
forty years ago, since which time our citizens have 
witnessed the advent of the circus, the menagerie, 
and more recently the Smethport Dramatic Society. 
So that our first gala day is now thrown entirely into 
the shade and is remembered and talked of only by 
the oldest inhabitants of the town as a notable event 
of the olden times, when they repeat with a sigh 
" thus passes away the glory of the world." 

THE WOLF HOWL 

I close this, what seems to me, puerile sketch of 
nonsense, by relating the following incident : At the 
time when Ex-governor George Wolf was last a candi- 
date for reelection as governor of Pennsylvania, the 
night when the election news came into Smethport, 
Asa Sartwell and other prominent Democrats of the 
village went to the post office to get the election news, 
which indicated that Governor Wolf had succeeded. 
About eleven o'clock at night, he with the other Demo- 
crats started down the street to go home. Soon after 
starting they set up a loud and well-indicated wolf- 
howl and kept up a tremendous wolf-howl all the way 
down to Mechanicburgh Street, and next morning as 
Mr. Sartwell was coming up street he was met by old 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 55 

Squire Crow who was always a firm Whig in politics. 
The old squire, with a good-natured broad grin, said 
to Sartwell, who was also an esquire, " Well, Squire, 
you have had your last howl ; Ritner is elected." So 
that it turned out to be that the Whigs had beaten in 
the election and Pennsylvania had a Whig governor 
the first time for many years. But the cream of the 
joke was that the howl was so well imitated that a 
prudent farmer who had heard it, though in bed the 
previous night, got out of bed and went outdoors, 
hunted up his flock of sheep and carefully shut them 
up in a yarded pen to save them from the havoc of the 
wolves. 

I may remark that those who once inhabited the 
neighboring part of this continent, Mexico, were be- 
lieved to be a nation called Aztecs ; and our own West, 
had its nation of mound-builders who were peoples be- 
longing to the prehistoric age, and have left no record. 
But McKean County is more fortunate in having a his- 
torian who without fee or expectation of favor or re- 
ward has chronicled at least some of the events of its 
primitive history. 

Smethport, 25th Dec, 1874. 

This 4th of July celebration was in 1833. 



OBITUAKY AND AN APPRECIATION 

[Taken from the Records of McKean County (Pennsylvania) 

Court.] 

DEATH OF ORLO J. HAMLIN, ESQ. 

Died at Smethport, February 13, 1880, Orlo J. Hamlin, in the 
seventy-seventh year of his age. 

THE deceased was born at Sharon, Ct., the 2d 
day of December, 1803. He came with the 
other members of his father's family to Pennsylvania 
in 1814, and lived for several years in Wayne and 
Bradford counties. In the year 1824 he went to 
Towanda where he taught school for a short time, 
and at that place read law with Simon Kinney, Esq. 
He was admitted as a member of the bar at Towanda 
in 1826. In that year he came to Smethport. He 
started from Towanda with the intention of locating 
at Warren, Pa., but on his way met at Smethport 
with John King who had charge of the extensive land 
estate of John Keating & Company, with Jonathan 
Oolegrove, who was connected with the Eidgway 
lands, with Solomon Sartwell who was doing a large 
mercantile and lumber business, and with others then 
prominent in the affairs of McKean County. They 
urged him not to go farther but to locate here. He 
concluded to accept of their proffers of business and 
to remain. He has lived in Smethport from that time 
to the day of his death. 

In 1828 he was married to Orra L. Cogswell, also 

56 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 57 

of Connecticut, but who was then in this county visit- 
ing her uncle, Jonathan Colegrove. The result of 
this union was three children, Henry, John C, and 
Pauline, wife of Robert King. His wife survives 
him, and she with their children above named, who 
are all married and have adult children, reside here. 

The first court held in McKean County was in Sep- 
tember, 1826. At this term there were present Hon. 
Edward Herrick, President Judge, and Joseph Otto 
and Joel Bishop, Associate Judges, with Timothy 
Newell, Prothonotary. The lawyers present were 
Ellis Lewis, William Garretson and Peter R. Adams 
of Tioga County, Simon Kinney of Bradford County, 
Anson Parsons of Lycoming County, and Henry 
Bryan and Chauncey J. Fox of Cattaraugus County, 
New York. There was then no resident lawyer in 
McKean County. At the December term following, 
1826, Orlo J. Hamlin and John W. Hume, of McKean 
County, were admitted as members of the bar. Of 
this number the only one now believed to be living is 
Hon. A. V. Parsons, who resides in Philadelphia, 
and is an octogenarian. 

Mr. Hamlin was a member of the legislature in 
1832, and a delegate to the convention in 1836 and 
1837 in which was framed the Constitution of Penn- 
sylvania adopted in 1838. In 1837 he was compelled 
to resign his seat in the Convention by reason of ill 
health. Hiram Payne was chosen to succeed him. 

At that time a journey to Harrisburg had to be 
made on horseback. The route lay through Couders- 
port, and thence through nearly sixty miles of wilder- 
ness to Jersey Shore; and to traverse the whole dis- 
tance required a full week of hard labor. 



58 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

Mr. Hamlin possessed a weak physical constitution, 
and, though well formed and five feet ten inches in 
height, seldom weighed above one hundred and ten 
pounds. After his retirement from the convention 
he partially recovered his strength, and continued, 
with such interruptions as were caused by feeble 
health, to practice law until the fall of 1851, when he 
entirely broke down, and never came into court to 
do any business afterwards. The last cause of pub- 
lic importance he was engaged in was as counsel for 
the prosecution in the trial of Uzza Bobbins, who was 
convicted of murder in 1849. This trial took place 
in the Methodist Church, the same building in which 
courts are now held, and which was then used as a 
court room for the same reason as now. It so hap- 
pened that Mr. Hamlin was present at the first term 
of the court held in the Court House now lately torn 
down, and delivered the first address made in it to the 
court, and which turned out to be his last. In his 
room and on his bed he has lived to see the erection 
made of brick and stone which was considered en- 
during pass away before his frail body. The judges 
before whom he practiced law have all been called 
to answer before their Judge, whose decrees are just 
and from which there can be no appeal. 

Of the lawyers with whom he had many hard con- 
tests for legal victory, there only remains S. P. John- 
son, of Warren, C. B. Curtis, of Erie, and A. S. Diven, 
of Elmira. The frailest of any he has outlived them 
all, with the exceptions above stated, and these were 
his juniors in years. 

Though weak in body, the subject of this sketch 
was the fortunate possessor of a mind of great supe- 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 59 

riority. When a proposition was presented to him 
for his conclusion, or to present for the determination 
of others, he had the habit and the power to analyze 
it in all its parts, separating each backward to a firm 
foundation, and building upward piece by piece, 
strengthening each by apt illustration and cogent 
reasoning. 

In the year 1837 he submitted to the Constitutional 
Convention a proposition to give each county of the 
State a representative in the legislature. This propo- 
sition he enforced with a speech of such power as to 
drawn encomiums from John Sergeant, Thaddeus 
Stevens and others of the ablest members of the con- 
vention, who opposed it by reason of representing 
constituencies composed of dense population rather 
than areas of square miles of territory. The propo- 
sition failed at that time, but was adopted in 1874, 
and its strong support was drawn from reproducing 
the argument made by Mr. Hamlin in 1837, to which 
special reference was made. 

More than twenty years ago, Mr. Hamlin gave up 
all hope of ever again appearing in court. In order 
that what remained of life might not be a blank, he 
entered up what was to him a new class of studies, 
taking books of the French and German to learn 
their languages; and following with careful studies 
of Astronomy, Geology, etc., calling his family to his 
aid in making observation of the planets and procur- 
ing specimens of minerals, plants, insects, etc., for 
his examination. 

Mr. Hamlin professed his faith as a Christian in 
early manhood, while in Harrisburg. He was bap- 
tized by Rev. B. S. Babbitt, and became a member of 



60 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

the Presbyterian Church upon its organization in this 
place, about thirty-five years ago. His religious life 
was not one of emotion; but a firm trust in God sus- 
tained and comforted him through life. To those 
who knew him best he often expressed his faith, and 
as he felt life's sands slowly ebbing away desired and 
received Holy Communion, to his comfort and peace. 
There was no immediate or marked cause of death. 
It was simply the result of a gradual weakening of 
his physical powers, and he sank to his final rest 
peacefully and painlessly, having more than filled the 
allotted three score and ten. 

BAR MEETING 

Remarks and resolutions upon the death of O. J. Hamlin, Esq. 

During a lull in the Monday afternoon session of 
Court, Hon. C. B. Curtis addressed the court as fol- 
lows: 

Mr. Curtis said : " If the Court please, I wish to 
announce to the Court and Bar that Orlo J. Hamlin 
breathed his last in this town on the 13th day of the 
present month. The oldest practitioner which I know, 
and one of the oldest members of the bar which I 
know in western Pennsylvania; I know of but one 
person now occupying that position. And I cannot 
pass over the announcement of this fact without some 
reference to the character of the deceased. Having 
been admitted here as early as 1826 — almost fifty- 
four years ago — he must necessarily have formed 
some character for good or for evil in this community, 
as well as in the surrounding counties, where he was 
well known. And it is but just to his memory to 
say of the deceased that there was never a man prac- 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 61 

ticed before this bar that had a more unimpeachable 
record than the deceased. There are but few men 
whose whole life for integrity was so unquestioned; 
so white, and pure as Orlo J. Hamlin's. While he 
bore that high character fully among his professional 
associates, he was held in the same estimation by all 
classes who had intercourse with him. He also had 
this commendable merit besides, he was a lawyer in 
the true acceptance of that term. High minded, con- 
ciliatory and honorable not only in all of his relations 
with his professional brethren and the bench but also 
in his intercourse with all classes of our citizens, who 
will long remember him with the highest respect for 
his high character as a good lawyer and citizen. 
Orlo J. Hamlin was a thorough student, devoted to 
his books. As a practitioner, there was no member 
of this bar who came into court more thoroughly pre- 
pared and master of the subject involved in the con- 
troversy than the deceased. He was therefore always 
prepared to make an able and learned presentation of 
his cause. Although Mr. Hamlin for many years 
had retired from the active labors of his profession 
he nevertheless pursued his studies to the last which 
seemed to relieve him somewhat from his pain and 
suffering during so many years of sickness. Bright 
and promising as were his prospects in early life, yet 
they were somewhat clouded by delicate health which 
finally settled down for a period of nearly thirty years 
into a sickness, making him a confirmed invalid dur- 
ing all these dreary years, and confined to his house, 
seeing but a few persons and conversing with but few. 
But still with all his afflictions he bore them with 
Christian fortitude and grace, never forgetting the 



62 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

profession to which he belonged, never forgetting to 
hold aloft the high standard of that profession. And 
he so lived as to make his memory revered not only 
in the county of McKean, which ought to be proud of 
his career, but in the counties surrounding wherever 
he was known — and wherever his character was 
known, he will be regretted. And while his char- 
acter may be held up as a model for the profession, it 
may also be alleged that he had a model character 
as a good citizen. And that is saying a great deal 
for the deceased. 

" I have, in view of the character of Mr. Hamlin, 
and the occasion, drawn a resolution asking for the 
appointment of a committee by this Court to express 
the sentiments of this Court and Bar in relation to 
the character of Orlo J. Hamlin, which I will now 
present to your Honor." 

His Honor Judge Williams said : — " Your idea, 
Mr. Curtis, is, that this committee should report 
at a subsequent sitting of the Court upon its ac- 
tion?" 

Mr. Curtis : " Yes, sir : and that the resolutions be 
filed among the records of the Court." 

Judge Williams : " Has any other gentleman, at 
this time, anything to urge upon this suggestion? " 

Mr. Backus : " Your Honor : I have been a mem- 
ber of the McKean County Bar some twenty-eight or 
thirty years. I knew O. J. Hamlin for some time pre- 
vious to his being confined in consequence of ill 
health, and his retirement from the Bar; probably 
some two years. I have known of his reputation 
pretty thoroughly; I have known of the man. Al- 
though he has been, as it were, buried for the last 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 63 

twenty-eight years, yet I have learned from the 
records of this county — from the transactions that 
have transpired in consequence of his connection with 
the growth and political existence of this county suf- 
ficient to enable me to know that he was a man of 
extraordinary character; that he was a man of large 
ability. He was not only considered one of the first 
attorneys in Western Pennsylvania, but he was 
trusted also with the keeping and maintaining of the 
honors of the State. He was a member of the Legis- 
lature; he was a member of the Constitutional Con- 
vention of 1838, and of whom it has been said by 
very able men that there were none more capable or 
rendered more service in the formation of the Con- 
stitution than Orlo J. Hamlin. The people who 
have known him for years have known him as a man 
of great ability. They have known him as a man of 
great honesty and integrity ; one who was at any and 
all times not only when in full life but often he was 
confined to his room when he was unable to exercise 
his full powers of thought by reason of suffering and 
pain, ready to adjust differences and quiet law suits 
between neighbors, he was one who was looked up to. 
He was consulted as to the settlement of difficulties 
arising among neighbors. He was a man who did 
honors to the profession, who never urged a law suit, 
but invariably took all trouble and pains possible to 
make neighbors respect each other as men. There- 
fore, he has stood high in the community. All who 
spoke of him gave him credit as being a man of worth, 
and a man who, when he went out of society was very 
much missed. His departure will be regretted so 
long as the old citizens of this county remain on this 



64 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

side of the dark and turbulent river over which Orlo 
J. Hamlin has triumphantly passed." 

Judge Williams said : " It was not our good for- 
tune to have a personal acquaintance with Mr. Ham- 
lin. His active connection with the profession had 
closed before our connection began with the courts of 
McKean County. But through all the years of our 
attendance upon these courts we have heard but one 
opinion expressed of him. Whether he was spoken 
of as a citizen or as a lawyer it has uniformly been in 
terms of high praise. From those who knew him 
when in his full strength and met him in the contests 
of the court room, we have gotten the opinion that he 
was recognized as a lawyer of more than ordinary 
painstaking and of more than ordinary attainments; 
while as an advocate he was earnest, eloquent and be- 
fore a jury who knew his own character, almost irre- 
sistible. During the long years of his retirement in 
a sick room, he is reputed to have kept up his ac- 
quaintance with the literature of the age, to have been 
a careful student of the sciences — and indeed to 
have watched with interest even the recent changes 
and developments in progress about him. His long 
and successful professional career, his public services 
— his high personal character and his recognized abil- 
ity make this motion eminently proper, notwithstand- 
ing the fact that many years have elapsed since Mr. 
Hamlin's professional career closed. We entertain it 
with pleasure, and in compliance with it appoint the 
following committee, viz: Hon. C. B. Curtis, Hon. 
A. G. Olmstead, Hon. J. C. Backus, Hon. W. W. 
Brown, Hon. P. Ford, Esq. 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 65 

"And it is further ordered that as a mark of re- 
spect for the memory of the deceased these Courts do 
now adjourn and that this order be entered at length 
upon the minutes." 

Committee appointed by the Court to prepare reso- 
lutions of the sense of this Bar presents the following 
resolutions, February 18, 1880, in open Court: 

" Resolved, That the Court and Bar of this county 
sincerely mourn the death of our esteemed deceased 
brother, O. J. Hamlin, a member of this bar for more 
than fifty years. 

" Resolved, That we entertain the profoundest re- 
spect for the unsullied character of the deceased as 
a good citizen and a lawyer of sterling integrity, and 
of more than ordinary professional learning and 
ability. 

" Resolved, that we tender to the family of the de- 
ceased our sincerest condolence in their bereavement 
for their irreparable loss." 

And now, February 19, 1880, it is ordered, That the 
resolutions reported by the committee appointed on 
the 16th of February, inst., be entered at length upon 
the minutes of this Court as a part of the proceedings 
of the day, and that the Prothonotary make and 
deliver to the committee a copy thereof certified under 
his official seal for presentation to the family of the 
said O. J. Hamlin, deceased. 

By order of Court. 

These eulogies bestowed on the pioneer lawyer on 
that 18th day of February, 1880, only five days after 



66 ORLO JAY HAMLIN 

he was called to the bar of the Supreme Court of the 
Universe, were not utterances of fashion or custom. 
The pioneer more than deserved this praise, for every 
act of his during half a century's residence in McKean 
County was one bringing benefits to the community, 
county or state. 



II 

A LOVER OF NATURE 



A SUMMER'S SUNRISE IN THE COUNTRY 

THE previous night had been clear. Just before 
the dawn of day, the silvery horns of the cres- 
cent new moon were distinctly seen apparently at rest 
in the ethereal blue of the firmament, but really 
wheeling its onward course in its orbicular circuit 
around the earth. The stars were bright and glisten- 
ing, shedding forth the bright, gleaming glories of the 
firmament scattered over the arched vault of heaven 
in numbers innumerable. They seemed like glitter- 
ing diamonds strewn with a profuse hand over the 
surface of the shoreless sea of the universe. We call 
them stars or the lesser lights of the heavens, while, 
really, they are bright, grand and glorious suns, giv- 
ing light, heat and the vivifying principles of life to 
other universes or solar systems like our own; each 
star or sun having an immense elliptical orbit of its 
own, traveling millions of miles to perform one single 
circuit around its own orbit, to be continued, so far 
as we know, through the countless ages of a never- 
ending eternity. There are thoughts, feelings and 
emotions of the human mind too great, too grand, too 
sublime for language to express: and the contempla- 
tion of such a scene as the starry heavens present is 
too sublime for human utterance. The tongue 
cleaves to the mouth and is speechless. We almost 
hold our breath in suspense while in wonder and awe 
we contemplate the works of the Creator. " The 



70 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

stars sing together for joy," and we ask ourselves 
what kind of music do they make? They make the 
music of harmony, the harmony of the spheres, that 
celestial harmony which causes the vast concourse 
of worlds with their attendant satellites and their 
glorious suns to move in silent harmony, never end- 
ing, never varying, never ceasing in their noiseless 
course, to perform the will of the Almighty in ac- 
cordance with those perfect invariable laws which He 
in His wisdom and plenary power has made to govern 
the matter of the universe created by His omnipo- 
tence. We can feel while we cannot express the vast- 
ness and grandeur of the works of creation. We can 
feel while we cannot express the idea of the word 
Infinity. 

Just before the first traces of the day began to 
dawn, the stars commenced perceptibly to fade from 
view and faint traces of light were seen to radiate 
from the east and spread over the vast circuit of the 
horizon, the cerulean hue of the sky has assumed a 
grayish tinge; a change was taking place. Though 
most mortals were then in the oblivion of sleep or 
the reverie of dreams, the shrill notes of the chanti- 
cleer were ringing his morning reveille to awaken his 
feathered companions, plainly telling them it was 
time to be astir and preparing to begin the search 
for their morning's meal. Soon brighter and more 
distinct coruscations of light were seen to shoot up 
from the eastern horizon and extend towards the 
zenith, resembling the first appearance of the Aurora 
Borealis, and all surrounding objects could be seen 
clearly perceptible and gave evidence that the dawn 
of day was fast approaching. Then was heard the 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 71 

song of the thrush from the bush, skirting the pasture 
fields, though the wise old owl in the top of the old 
dry tree near the summit of the hill far distant had 
not yet stopped his hooting; and the whip-poor-wills 
were sailing in gathering circles overhead and oc- 
casionally giving out that strange guttural, hoarse 
sound which sometimes startles the early way-goer 
into thinking he has fallen into strange company. 
Now the matin reveille of the birds has fairly begun 
and that most domestic, most tame, most familiar 
to man of all the feathered songsters, the red-breasted 
robin, sitting perched on a high branch of an apple 
tree at the outskirts of the orchard, is joyously sing- 
ing in soft, soothing but plaintive notes his matin 
jubilee. The wood lark is sailing about the meadow 
in search of something to stow away in his now empty 
crop and occasionally uttering a cry of welcome to the 
coming morning. And now the bird orchestra is in 
full chorus and from almost every tree and bush is 
heard the song of some awakened bird rejoicing at 
the coming day, until all nature seems vocal with the 
sounds of commingled voices, now awakened from the 
oblivion of repose to the enjoyment of life and activity, 
singing or chanting to their Maker's praise in that 
language of melody which he has been pleased to give 
them. 

Now was heard from half a score of neighboring 
barnyards, cows lowing in chorus, anxious to be 
turned out to pasture and commence their morning 
grazing. Soon was seen the milkmaid, dressed in 
white apron and tidy sunbonnet, with a shining milk 
pail deftly balanced at the crook of her elbow and 
swinging from her arm ; even the old sleek cat Tabby 



72 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

sat demurely at the doorstep, anxiously awaiting her 
return to get her share of the new, warm milk that the 
generous maid always assigned Tabby for her break- 
fast ; and the pigs in the sty knew it was morning, too, 
for they were lustily squealing for a taste of the con- 
tents of the swill pail. And now the industrious hus- 
bandmen who had risen early were seen moving from 
place to place about the premises, arranging their do- 
mestic affairs preparatory to the commencement of 
their daily labor on the farm. The milkmaid has 
returned and carefully placed the new-strained milk 
in the spring house or on the pantry shelves in pans, 
from which to gather the orange-colored cream which 
is to furnish the rich, yellow butter for your tea table 
and will make your morning's cup of coffee more de- 
licious and add much to the fragrant and delightful 
dish of fresh strawberries placed by the side of your 
breakfast plate. 

If you now take a glance at your flower bed, you 
will find it light enough to perceive that those flow- 
ers which apparently have slept all night are now 
opening their blossoms and spreading out their gaudy, 
daring and gorgeously colored petals to meet the 
ardent gaze of the morning's sun, when its first 
blushes are seen to glow in the east ; the sweet-scented 
evening primrose, the tiger flower, and the morning 
glory are opening their buds wider and wider, expand- 
ing their blossoms to welcome the coming day, and, 
alas! they have but that one day to live. All their 
manifold beauties will vanish and have passed away, 
to return no more forever, e'er the rising sun shall 
have sunk beneath the western horizon. Such is the 
destiny of a flower, and such, almost, is the destiny 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 73 

of man. He stands forth, the crowning glory of the 
world for a day — his day, his three-score years and 
ten at most — and then withers and fades and passes 
away from earth like those once beautiful and glorious 
flowers, and is known no more. 

And now if we look to the east, we see a further 
change in the aspect of the horizon ; the gray -colored 
light has given place to a deep azure blue and that 
blue is gradually becoming intermingled with crimson 
tints of red. Slowly the rosy line mingles with the 
azure and forms a small arch just above the lower 
part of the horizon and above the crest of the hill. 
Then this arched semicircle of rosy tinted sky en- 
larges and looms upwards until it is expanded to a 
great extent. Objects that before were but dimly 
seen are now entirely and distinctly perceptible, and 
no longer exhibit a shadowy appearance. A flood of 
liquid light has suddenly been poured out and now 
bathes all the ethereal blue of the heavens and the 
canopy of earth with living light, the upper limb of 
the disc of the sun is now seen just peering above the 
hilltop, resembling an immense circular ball of fire, 
gradually climbing upward and shooting its burning 
rays in all directions. The lesser lights, the moon 
and the stars have now yielded to the mighty orb of 
day's advancing. And anon the bright, the grand, the 
glorious light of heaven has burst with magnificent, 
unspeakable splendor upon an awakened world. The 
soul is intoxicated with joy as one who is for the first 
time and suddenly endowed with vision and has but 
just realized the power of sight; when from dreamy 
nothingness one awakes to the consciousness of the 
wonderful and indescribable beauty and perfection of 



74 ORLO JAY HAMLIN 

a world filled with the countless marvels of creation 
formed by the unerring and divine hand of God. 
Now, the eastern slopes of the hills glow with the full 
light of day's luminary, and their western slopes cast 
ominous and almost fearful shadows, like the shadows 
of mighty giants looming from the clouds. And anon 
the sun has risen, peerless and resplendent with 
shining glory, and is crowned King of day by poets 
and orators; but the Swiss shepherds in their sim- 
plicity and heartfelt devotion, at the rising of the sun 
as seen along the Alpine mountains of Switzerland, 
take their cow horns for speaking trumpets, each one 
going to a summit of a crag or rock near by, and 
repeating by the blasts of their horns, " Praise ye the 
Lord, the sun has risen." The welcome sound is re- 
peated by every herdsman within range of hearing 
until the joyous greeting is heard to echo and reecho 
for miles and miles away among glens and grottoes 
along the mountain range and in the valley ; until all 
nature seems to vibrate with the vocal sound of 
" Praise ye the Lord, the sun has risen." 

Hermitage, Smethport, Pa., 
Nov. 9, 1867. 



McKEAN COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA 

[An article which appeared in the columns of The Forester.] 

HAVING several times been solicited by gentle- 
men, both in this county and elsewhere, to give 
a general description of the face, localities, produc- 
tions, etc., of this part of our State, I now proceed, 
reluctantly, to use my efforts in gratifying their 
desires in that respect: reluctant, because I am con- 
vinced there are many other gentlemen in this section 
of the State, possessing much more of the desired in- 
formation, and better qualified than myself, in every 
respect, to do the subject justice. However, if I 
should succeed in breaking the ice, perhaps others 
better qualified will follow. 

McKean county derived its name from our ven- 
erated Governor Thomas McKean. Its territory is 
computed at about twelve hundred square miles, being 
forty miles from east to west along the New York 
State line ; and averaging about thirty miles north to 
south, and containing from eight to nine hundred 
thousand acres of land. Different sections of the 
county bear quite a different face. The division of 
the county into townships, under the present arrange- 
ment (some of them quite large) is as follows: 
Keating in the center ; Ceres, at north ; Bradford and 
Cory don in the northwest; Liberty in the east, Ser- 
geant, Walker, Cooper and Shippen at the south and 
southeast; and Ogden in the southwest. The face of 

75 



76 LIFE AND WOKKS OF 

the country generally may be said to be interspersed 
with hills and valleys — the land marked out by the 
navigable waters, tributary streams, and brooks, or, 
as they are familiarly called, " spring runs " ; the 
kinds of timber more or less common to the whole 
country are white pine, hemlock, beech, sugar and soft 
maple, birch, elm, white and black ash, hickory, but- 
ternut, cherry, oak, chestnut, basswood or Lynn, and 
some cedar. The localities of timber are, upon the 
lands adjoining the Allegheny Eiver which passes 
through the townships of Liberty, and, near the center 
of Ceres, that part of Potato Creek which passes 
through the eastern part of Keating; the Sinnama- 
honing, which runs through the eastern part of Ship- 
pen, and the Tunuangwant, which passes through 
Bradford and empties into the Allegheny, together 
with that part of the county which borders on the 
eastern bank of the Allegheny at the northwestern 
part of the county; on the flats or intervals along 
those streams, white pine, oak, hickory, ash, elm, 
beech and maple, with some hemlock : the hills verg- 
ing those streams, from the intervals up to the sum- 
mits, are lined with a great share of white pine of an 
excellent quality. It is generally remarked that the 
pine on the side hills is of a better quality than on 
the flats. After the summit of the hills, bordering 
on those streams, are gained, and along the small 
streams which feed those of a larger character as 
before mentioned, the timber is generally hemlock, 
maple, beech, ash, basswood, and cherry. There is 
some pine along the small streams, but little on the 
upland. The flats or interval lands along the princi- 
pal streams, as the Allegheny, Sinnamahoning, 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 77 

Tunuangwant, and Potato Creek, extend, from the 
water back to the side hills, from half a mile to a mile 
and a half; along the smaller streams, as Marvin 
Creek, in Keating ; Portage, branches of the Allegheny 
and Sinnamahoning in Liberty and Shippen; West 
Creek in Shippen and Ogden; Oswayo in Ceres; and 
Kenzua, in Keating and Ogden, the interval is not so 
extensive: probably the valleys along those streams 
are from half a mile to two miles, including both sides 
of the streams. The general denominations given to 
the face of the land in this county are, interval, side 
hill and upland ; of which the two latter are the most 
extensive. 

Almost every part of the country contiguous to the 
main waters is perforated with smaller streams, which 
extend from five to ten, and even fifteen miles into the 
interior; and these secondary streams are again sup- 
ported by waters which descend from the brooks or 
spring runs; so that there can scarce be a hundred 
acres of land calculated for a farm, which is not well 
watered, either by a main stream or a brook. The 
side hills are a gentle slope from two to five degrees 
elevation, until near the summit, when they become 
steeper; they generally present a regular surface, a 
very few being stony. When the summit is gained 
it is common to find uninterrupted level for miles, 
disturbed only by here and there a gentle rolling of 
the land, or a spring run; this is more particularly 
the case in the western part of Keating Township, in 
the vicinity of Lafayette, or the Four Corners — 
where there are thousands of acres of land of that 
description — being finely timbered, open woods, con- 
sisting principally of hard timber, i. e., beech, maple, 



78 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

cherry, etc. ; also in the middle and western part of 
Sergeant and Ogden townships there are large bodies 
of this kind of land; so level is the surface, and so 
straight and thrifty the timber, and the woods so 
open, that a squirrel may be seen running from 
forty to sixty rods in advance. There are also 
many such lands in the southwestern part of the 
county. 

SOIL 

The great body of soil throughout the county is a 
soil well adapted to grazing, or the productions of hay 
and grass; the soil, however, differs in character. 
Along the main streams the soil is of an alluvial qual- 
ity, being a light sandy loam, some places a little 
mixed with the clay soil, well adapted to the produc- 
tion of grain, such as wheat, rye, Indian corn, oats, 
buckwheat, etc.; and those lands, also, produce 
good clover and timothy grass. They are excellent 
for potatoes, and the different kinds of garden 
stuffs. 

The side hills verging on the streams are generally 
a light mellow common loam, well adapted to all 
kinds of culture, grain or grass, and most kinds of 
esculent roots do well upon those soils; clover and 
timothy grass are a natural and almost spontaneous 
production. Those lands bear the different kinds of 
grasses, of an excellent quality, and in quantity pro- 
portioned to the amount improved and are not sur- 
passed by the lands in any other county in the State. 
The uplands are nearly of a similar description to 
those of the side hills and the productions much the 
same. 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 79 



CLIMATE 



The climate in this part of our State is healthy in 
the extreme; the waters being of the purest kind, as 
they generally originate from springs flowing out of 
the base of the hills, or breaking out of the low lands ; 
and when the waters collect in large streams, they 
have a gradual and uninterrupted descent. There 
are none of what are termed stagnant waters, from 
the putrid effluvia of which the air in some countries 
becomes contaminated, and as a natural consequence 
the inhabitants in their vicinity are subject to agues 
and fevers. When dams have been erected across 
the streams to gain a water-power for mills and ma- 
chinery, the water flows or sets back to some distance, 
forming a pond; but so pure is the water by which 
those ponds are supplied, that no serious effects have 
as yet resulted from their erection. I believe the 
dams have been raised across the Allegheny, below the 
New York State line and out of this county, where the 
natural current of the water has but little descent, 
which are supposed to have been injurious to the at- 
mosphere and produced some agues in that vicinity ; 
but I have never known any such case in our own 
county. 

It is but reasonable that the county should be 
healthy ; because it is mostly upland ; and the waters, 
emanating from clear springs, must be pure. 

There is no disease common to the county that is 
not also common to our State and country at large; 
and some that prevail in other parts that are scarcely 
known here — as the ague, cholera morbus, and those 
diseases usually prevalent in those parts where there 



80 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

are stagnant waters or extensive levels of lands, dur- 
ing the summer months. 

ROADS 

At the early period of the first settlements of this 
county, great difficulties were experienced by those 
whose enterprise led them to undergo the difficulties 
incident to a new country life, for the sake of obtain- 
ing good farms of their own. Indeed, one of the 
greatest impediments to settling a new country is the 
want of good roads, a difficulty which our Legislature 
at an early day made liberal provisions to remedy, by 
applying a part of the proceeds arising from the an- 
nual tax levied on unseated lands, to that purpose. 
This tax paid by the land holders has been the main 
reliance for the improvement of our roads. The road 
taxes paid in this county have usually been about 
$2700 per annum. This sum divided among the sev- 
eral townships and applied upon the great amount of 
roads, heretofore, in many instances, passing through 
large districts of wilderness, has been found quite 
inadequate to do much toward making good roads; 
although it has sufficed to open them and keep them 
passable. On laying out and making the first leading 
roads in this county the people labored under great 
inconveniences — the want of geographical knowledge 
of the county prevented the most appropriate grounds 
from being selected in many cases. This difficulty 
has tended to make the improvement of the roads at 
the present day much more expensive; because it is 
frequently found necessary to change the location 
entirely — consequently, the first labor in opening the 
road becomes totally lost. Another difficulty was, 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 81 

that the roads were to be opened through extensive 
tracts of unseated lands; hence the expense of pro- 
visioning workmen, supporting teams, and preparing, 
conveying, and repairing tools was very great, so 
that the same amount expended in this way would do 
much less work than a like amount laid out on a road 
through a settlement where labor, provisions, etc., 
could be obtained at a much cheaper rate. Another 
reason is that when the county was an entire wilder- 
ness, it could not be known through what part of the 
county the main leading roads would extend; conse- 
quently many expensive roads were laid out and made 
as a matter of experiment, which experience has 
proved more prudent to abandon. 

The east and west state road leading through the 
northern tier of counties in this State enters this 
county at the east, near the Canoe Place, on the Alle- 
gheny River, passes through Smethport, the county 
seat of this county, and leaves the county near the 
mouth of the Kenzua Creek at its junction with the 
Allegheny. Its distance in this county a little ex- 
ceeds forty miles. It was authorized, and the first 
expense of opening it defrayed by the State, under the 
superintendence of Judge Otto, one of our present 
associate judges, and one of our early settlers. It 
was commenced in the year 1816, and completed in 
1818. At present, although the road is passable, yet 
it needs much improvement. Wherever this road is 
so improved as to become a good thoroughfare, I think 
it cannot fail to become one of the first importance. 
It is known that there is a constant tide of emigration 
from the Eastern States to the West — many annu- 
ally pass and repass from the East to the West on 



82 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

visits to their relatives settled in a distant land — it 
is also known by experiment that the Allegheny River 
is navigable for steamboats from Pittsburgh up to the 
mouth of the Kenzua Creek, which empties into the 
Allegheny near the western termination of the road 
in this county. Now, if a line of steamboats was 
established from Pittsburgh to the mouth of Kenzua, 
and the E. & W. road so improved as to allow a line of 
stages to be established (it is already good from the 
east as far west as Wellsborough, in Tioga county, 
Pa. ) — it being settled that this is the most direct 
route from the east westward, because it passes 
through the State in nearly a due east and west line 
for about three hundred miles — would it not natu- 
rally follow that emigrants would take this route to 
Kenzua by land, thence down the Allegheny, Ohio, 
and Mississippi by water, and those who were travel- 
ing for pleasure or on business, return that way? 
There is another idea, while on this subject, worthy of 
a moment's time ; that is, that Pittsburgh is becoming 
known for her extensive manufactures as the " Bir- 
mingham of the West " ; glass, iron, lead, crude and 
for paints, linseed oil, and salt can be purchased there 
as cheap or cheaper than in any other place to which 
this part of our State trades. If this road was im- 
proved, and a steamboat navigation established, those 
articles might be freighted to this and the adjoining 
counties much cheaper than in any other way — it 
strikes me as being a very important road. 

The Milesburgh and Smithport Turnpike Road 
Company was incorporated by Act of Assembly, 
passed at the session of 1824-5, and commissioners 
appointed to obtain subscriptions — there has been 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 83 

near $15,000 of stock taken up by individuals, on the 
whole route. The road was located in the fall of 1827 
— it commences at the north near where the Allegheny 
River crosses the state line, about ten miles south of 
Olean, New York, passes through Ceres to Smethport 
in Keating Township, running along the valleys of the 
Allegheny, and Potato Creek; from Smethport it ex- 
tends southwesterly, along the valley of Marvin Creek 
through the western part of Sergeant Township and 
reaches the uplands in Sergeant and Ogden, thence 
into the northeast part of Jefferson County; through 
that county and the eastern part of Clearfield to 
Milesburgh, in Center County, terminating within two 
miles of Bellefonte, on the leading turnpike through 
Center County, via Harrisburg, to Philadelphia. The 
whole distance of the turnpike is about one hundred 
twenty miles. It extends, in this county, through the 
lands of John Keating, Esquire, and Company, the 
estate of the late Wm. Bingham, Esquire; B. B. 
Cooper, Messrs. Richards and Jones, and Jacob Ridge- 
way, Esquire. There are some lands yet for sale on 
the Turnpike, on the Keating and Bingham tracts, 
though it is mostly settled. Those of Messrs. Rich- 
ards and Jones are but just being opened for sale and 
will afford lands on or contiguous to the Turnpike for 
an extensive settlement, as also those of Mr. Ridge- 
way. At the session of our Legislature for 1827-8 an 
appropriation was obtained for this turnpike of 
$20,000, being $166.66 per each mile of the road. 
This appropriation, together with the individual sub- 
scriptions (which are yearly increasing), it is confi- 
dently believed will in a few years be sufficient to 
complete the whole road. Among the individual sub- 



84 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

scribers towards this section of the road, the county 
of McKean, by the commissioners, J. Ridgway, Es- 
quire, and Messrs. Richards and Jones, have been very 
liberal. 

There was not much done at working the road until 
1829. There is now completed the whole distance 
from the New York State line to Smethport, and 
about four miles beyond — being in all twenty-one 
miles; which part of the Turnpike is now in good 
passable order; and it is remarkable that, for the 
whole distance, there is not a hill presenting any im- 
pediment to a loaded team. Operations are about 
commencing to continue the progress of the road 
through this, as well as the other counties through 
which it passes. 

Much credit is due to the active exertions of Mr. 
J. Colegrove, who represented this county in the State 
Legislature when the turnpike appropriation was ob- 
tained, for his attention to our interests in that body, 
as well as to the enlightened Legislature, who ex- 
tended to us a helping hand in the time of need. 

This turnpike will present a good thoroughfare 
from the Lakes to Philadelphia, and the South, alike 
beneficial to the carter, the drover and the traveler 
— besides of being of almost inestimable benefit to 
every citizen of McKean County, as well as to the 
adjoining counties, as forming a connecting link in 
the chain of internal improvements, by roads, through- 
out our State. 

The road, called the Sinnamahoning Road, leading 
from Smethport to Dunstown, Jersey Shore and Wil- 
liamsport, passes from Smethport up the Potato 
Creek, through what is called the Norwich Settle- 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 85 

ment; crosses the summit between Potato Creek and 
North Creek, or branch of the Driftwood branch of 
the Sinnamahoning ; and thence down the Sinnama- 
honing to Lycoming County. This road has been 
gradually improving in this county for several years. 
Should the Pennsylvania Canal be completed as far 
as the mouth of the Bald Eagle Creek, near Duns- 
town, in Lycoming County, and this road made good, 
merchandise may then be transported from Philadel- 
phia to this county by much less land carriage than 
by any other route; being twenty or thirty miles less 
distance from our county seat, than to the Erie Canal, 
whence most of our goods are now brought. 

There are a variety of other roads, intersecting 
those above mentioned, in different parts of the 
county; as the road from the Olean Road up the Os- 
weyo, through the eastern part of Ceres Township to 
the Jersey Shore Turnpike at Coudersport. On this 
route there is now a weekly stage from Jersey Shore 
to Olean, New York. The road from Smethport 
through Tunuangwant Settlement, in Bradford Town- 
ship, to Corydon Township, in the northwest part of 
this county. Also from the Allegheny Bridge to 
Tunuangwant. Both these roads pass through large 
bodies of excellent land. The Kittaning Road pass- 
ing through the western part of the county in a north- 
east and southwest direction, and crossing the State 
Road at Lafayette or the Four Corners, about twelve 
miles from Smethport. This road passes through 
large bodies of excellent upland. It leads directly 
from Kittaning, Pennsylvania, to Olean, New York, 
and when put in good condition will be very useful 
to the lumbering interest in this section of country, 



86 LIFE AND WOKKS OF 

on their return from market. There are several town- 
ship roads intersecting the road from the Tunuang- 
want; also several roads from Clermontville or the 
Kidgeway farms, to the Turnpike, and Potato Creek 
road. 

As new settlements are formed, our roads are yearly 
laid out, and made to meet the exigencies of the peo- 
ple. It is contemplated to make considerable im- 
provement in the State road from Smethport east to 
the Canoeplace this season. 

One thing is truly remarkable, and highly satis- 
factory in relation to the roads through this county; 
it is that almost all of them are located along the 
valleys of the streams ; so that our roads present the 
most level surface of any county with which I am 
acquainted in the State. There is scarce any part of 
the county but what is, or can be, accommodated with 
roads, without passing over hills of any magnitude. 
The only serious one that now exists is from Potato 
Creek over to the Allegheny at the Canoeplace; but 
this it is expected will be totally obviated during the 
ensuing summer. 

Good roads would ensure us a rapid settlement of 
our county ; there can be no doubt but our lands are 
a sufficient inducement were our roads comparatively 
as good as our lands. It is confidently hoped that 
our Legislature will consider the justice and propriety 
of our claims, and grant a reasonable appropriation 
to our East and West State Koad. While many of 
the counties through the State are receiving the bene- 
fits of a vast internal improvement by canals and 
otherwise, and experiencing the privilege of having 
thousands of public money expended along them, the 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 87 

county of McKean, containing nearly as great a ter- 
ritory of good land as any other in the State, yearly 
contributes to support the burden of taxation, to dis- 
charge the interest on the canal loans, with scarcely 
any benefit even remotely resulting to her from the 
system. This, however, her citizens would do cheer- 
fully if they could receive some reasonable assistance 
in rendering her internal communication good by im- 
proving their roads. This county has been for years 
nearly insulated from the surrounding country and 
shut out from foreign communications, by that insur- 
mountable barrier, our rugged roads. Since the light 
of internal improvement, by bettering our roads, first 
dawned upon us, in the shape of an appropriation for 
our Turnpike, public spirit has been awakened and 
our yet slender population have subscribed more 
than three times the amount of public money already 
expended for that object. Should the Legislature 
ever be induced to yield us an appropriation there is 
not probably an object of more general and public 
utility to this county and State than an appropriation 
to this road. 

STREAMS 

The Allegheny River, so far as it extends in this 
county, is navigable for descending craft. Large 
quantities of lumber such as boards, scantling, joists, 
timber and shingles are annually taken down this 
river, through this county, to market at Pittsburgh, 
Wheeling and Cincinnati. The experiment has been 
made of ascending navigation. Keel boats have fre- 
quently ascended, loaded, as far as Olean ; as also in 
the spring of 1829, a steamboat ascended as far as 



88 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

that place; and the opinions of watermen acquainted 
with the Allegheny concur that there is sufficient 
water for a steamboat to ascend into this county, and 
in a good stage of water, by way of Potato Creek, to 
Smethport. The Allegheny River has its origin in 
the county of Potter, from seven to ten miles east of 
Coudersport ; it comes from several small spring runs, 
taking their course from the uplands, and constantly 
increasing from small tributary streams. The sum- 
mit between the Allegheny and Pine Creek (a tribu- 
tary stream of the west branch of the Susquehanna) 
is a hill about half or three fourths of a mile over, 
and one hundred fifty feet high. The streams are 
small where they run along the base of the hill at the 
summit. The descent of the streams, near the sum- 
mit, is considerable ; but the Allegheny after it enters 
this county descends very smoothly and presents an 
entire even surface, with scarce a ripple, and no 
falls or rocky shoals. 

The Portage branch of the Allegheny empties into 
the main stream from the south at the Canoeplace. 
It is a fine gentle stream, with good land bordering 
on it. It has its source at the foot of the summit hill, 
dividing that branch from the Portage branch of the 
Sinnamahoning. These branches head in springs 
near together, and I believe the waters of them have 
been brought together Jby a ditch between the two 
springs. The summit is some hundred feet above the 
main levels of the Allegheny and Sinnamahoning, the 
streams having considerable descent. 

The main Driftwood branch of the Sinnamahoning 
is navigable, descending, for rafts and timber — con- 
siderable lumber is sent down this stream. 



OKLO JAY HAMLIN 89 

The Tunuangwant is one of the handsomest streams 
in this county ; it is a fine smooth stream of consider- 
able size, navigable for rafts and lumber generally. 

The Kenzua and Marvin creeks are good mill 
streams — but not sufficiently large for navigation. 

MILLS, AND MANUFACTURING PRIVILEGES 

The streams generally in this county are well cal- 
culated for mills, and to propel machinery for manu- 
factories of almost every description. One thing 
remarkable, and common to all the streams, is that, 
since they are fed and supported by springs, and that 
in great numbers, they hold out a good supply of 
water, generally the whole season. There are about 
forty sawmills in operation in this county, several 
gristmills, a carding machine, clothing works, etc. 
There is scarce a body of land of any considerable 
size in the county but what is provided with a stream 
of sufficient magnitude to carry mills of almost any 
description. 

METALS, MINERALS, ETC. 

Iron ore has been discovered in several parts of 
the county — it is said to be extensive, and of a supe- 
rior quality. There can be little doubt but there are 
large bodies of it in the county ; and that the manu- 
facture of iron might be profitably carried on by 
capitalists who were able and willing to invest a por- 
tion of their funds in that kind of business. 

Several banks of stone coal, of the bituminous kind, 
have been found, and ascertained to be of a superior 
quality ; it is used by most of the smiths here, and has 
even been transported in sleighs to the State of New 



90 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

York. It is found in layers, and increases in the 
thickness of the strata or vein as it extends into the 
earth — mining it is as yet only experimental. The 
bank from which it is now taken is about three feet 
deep and grows deeper the more it is opened. This 
bank is about ten miles south of Smethport and six 
miles from the Turnpike, on lands now or formerly 
owned by Mr. Ridgeway of Philadelphia. It is be- 
lieved that there are extensive beds of coal in that 
vicinity. 

Last season the manufacture of salt was commenced 
by a Mr. Allen Rice and Company at a salt spring 
in the southeast part of Sergeant Township, in this 
county. The operations were found quite favorable, 
and a large boiling works erected. Salt was made of 
an excellent quality and the water found to bear a 
good per cent. This year arrangements have been 
made to continue the operations by boring — it is 
intended by Mr. Rice to test the matter by a thorough 
experiment. Should they succeed, it will not only be 
a matter of profit to the owners, but of great general 
utility to the people in this section of the State. 
From the discoveries and experiments already made 
in this county, it is highly probable that iron, coal, 
and salt may yet become articles of export to a large 
extent, there being no iron or salt for domestic use 
manufactured within more than a hundred miles of 
this county. It is, therefore, important that their 
manufacture should be encouraged. 

PRODUCTIONS 

The ordinary productions of the county are English 
grain of the various kinds, wheat, rye, buckwheat, 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 91 

oats, Indian corn, etc., and the quantity of produc- 
tion is equal to that of any other adjoining county in 
this State, or adjoining us in the State of New York. 
No land in the United States is probably better by 
nature for raising grass than this. It is a natural 
and spontaneous growth of the county. This county 
has produced as fine cattle as any raised in any other 
part ; and far superior to the cattle raised in the grain 
counties of the south and west part of the State. 
Young cattle will fatten in the woods during the sum- 
mer, and become good beef by fall, so naturally does 
the soil yield herbage of the various kinds calculated 
for the nutriment of cattle. On the flats of the Alle- 
gheny River, so abundant is the crop of shagbark 
walnuts, in some seasons, that hogs are turned out to 
fatten on those that fall from the trees ; and by giving 
them a little corn after the shack season, as it is 
called, is over, they become excellent pork. 

The various kinds of fruits common to the northern 
parts of the United States are cultivated here with 
success, so far as the experiment has been made. Ap- 
ples, peaches, plums and cherries are common; as 
also fruits of the various shrubs, such as gooseberries, 
currants, strawberries, blackberries and raspberries. 
The latter are very abundant. There is no country 
where the apple tree grows more fair and thrifty. 

Some cattle have been driven to Philadelphia mar- 
ket ; but the most of those raised here are sold to new 
settlers, or the lumbermen in this and the adjoining 
counties. They have always brought a liberal price. 

Lumber is a very considerable article of export 
from this county. I have been recently informed by 
one of the heaviest lumbering men in the county, that 



92 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

as many as 3,000,000 feet of boards are annually sent 
to market from this county ; besides a large quantity 
of shingles and square timber. The lumber sent from 
this county is generally of an excellent quality. 

GAME 

There is an abundance of wild game in the unsettled 
parts of this county, such as bear, deer, panthers, 
wolves, wildcats, foxes and all the smaller wild ani- 
mals common to this part of the United States. 
Plenty of wild fowls, such as geese, ducks, partridges, 
pheasants, etc. 

The small streams abound with trout, and the larger 
ones with pike, sunfish, suckers, etc., and eels are 
caught on the Sinnamahoning. 

The principal landowners are John Keating, Esq. 
& Company, Messrs. Richards & Jones, and Jacob 
Ridgeway, Esq., of Philadelphia; the estate of the 
late W. M. Bingham, Esq., the Holland Company, 
James Trimbal, Esq., of Harrisburgh; B. B. Cooper, 
Esq., of New Jersey; besides a great many small 
tracts, owned by various individuals. Most of the 
owners have agents in this county, of whom their 
lands may be purchased, at from $1.50 to $4.00 per 
acre. Their titles are believed to be indisputable. 
A credit can be obtained by the purchaser of from 
four to seven and even ten years, payable by install- 
ments. 

Smethport, the county seat of this county, was laid 
out under the superintendence of John Bell, Thomas 
Smith and John C. Brevost, of this county, A. D. 
1807, into eighty -nine squares, of one acre and three- 
fifths each, and each subdivided into eight lots of 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 93 

four rods front and eight deep. A street sixty-six 
feet wide is laid on each side between all the squares. 
The streets in the center for seven squares are east 
and west, north and south. Those at the extremities 
are at an angle of sixty-nine degrees from the main 
street, forming in the whole, a kind of crescent or 
half moon. It is situate on the north bank, at the 
junction of Marvin with Potato Creek — on the 
East and West State Road, a little east of the center 
of the county. It is laid out and built on the second 
bank of land from the streams, on a gentle slope, or 
ascent of ground — the first bank being flat. The 
ground ascends towards the north; consequently it 
has the full benefit of the sun, from the east and south 
hills are to be seen on all sides, at a distance ; as also 
the valleys of Potato and Marvin creeks — so that in 
time the scenery will be highly romantic. 

The first house built was a log one, erected by one 
Capt. Arnold Hunter, in 1811 ; another built in 1812 
— but both abandoned in 1814. No permanent set- 
tlement was commenced until 1822. About this time 
the first county commissioners were elected and held 
their office in a small building erected by Doctor 
Eastman at the lower part of the town plot. The 
first commissioners were Rensselaer Wright and 
Jonathan Colegrove for McKean, and John Taggart, 
for Potter County — Joseph Otto, treasurer. This 
county was organized for judicial purposes in 1826; 
and the first county court was held in September of 
that year. The Court House, situate in the center of 
the town — a respectably made brick building — was 
erected this year. At this time there were but about 
half a dozen dwelling houses — the number has since 



94 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

increased to about thirty, besides out-buildings, shops, 
mills, etc. It now has a gristmill, sawmill, carding 
machine, clothing works and tannery. There are 
several mechanics here, but many more needed. A 
printing press has been established this year. A 
weekly mail arrives here from the north, the east, the 
southeast, the south and the west. On the route from 
the east, a stage commenced running this spring and 
will continue. It leads from this place to Couders- 
port, thence either to Jersey Shore, Harrisburgh and 
Philadelphia ; or to Wellsborough, where stages go in 
different directions. A stage route, once or twice a 
week, will probably be in operation some time this 
summer, connecting with the Angelica and Rochester 
stages at Olean Point, New York. Smethport may 
now be called a pleasant county hamlet. Whenever 
the Milesburgh and Smethport Turnpike is completed 
(which there is good reason to believe will be soon) 
and a regular line of stages are established, leading 
from Rochester, Buffalo and the Lakes via Olean and 
Smethport to Harrisburgh, Philadelphia and Wash- 
ington — and the state road becomes improved, this 
will, in all probability, become a bustling place of 
business. It is remarkable that this place is but 
about three miles from a direct air line from Washing- 
ton, D. C, to Buffalo, New York. This shows that a 
road from this place towards Harrisburgh will be the 
nearest road between those two extreme points. 
Should a railroad be constructed through the south- 
ern tier of counties in New York State, via Olean, 
New York, there is nothing to prevent a railroad from 
the coal banks in this county, via Smethport, to inter- 
sect the New York railroad at Olean ; the route being 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 95 

a complete inclined plane, descending from the coal 
banks. This may yet be an object worthy of the at- 
tention of capitalists. 

By a recent act of the Legislature an appropriation 
of $2000 was made for an academy at Smethport. 
Several years ago John Keating, Esquire, gave $500 
and one hundred fifty acres of land adjoining the vil- 
lage, as a donation towards such an institution, when 
it shall be established; and individuals of McKean 
County have subscribed, rising of $500, for that pur- 
pose. These amounts of money have been for three 
years vested in productive funds paying an interest 
of six per cent, per annum, and it is understood that 
the accumulated interest on these funds will in three 
years more be sufficient to defray the expenses of 
erecting a suitable building for an Academy; when 
it is confidently hoped it will go into successful opera- 
tion. 

EARLY SETTLEMENTS 

The first settlers of this county suffered great in- 
conveniences ; so much greater than those of the 
present day, that there is scarce a comparison. The 
early settlers found this county a dense wilderness, 
without a road, or an inhabitant, save the beasts of 
the forest, some of which were of a very ferocious 
character, while others served as a slender support 
to those who practiced hunting. The first settlement, 
of which I have a correct account, was made by six 
families from the State of New York, who came on 
much at the same time and located on Potato Creek, 
from three to seven miles north of Smethport, in 1810. 
They had great difficulty in getting to their new 



96 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

homes, having to bring their families and goods up 
the stream in canoes. There was no settlement 
within many miles of them; and they were even 
obliged for a time to bring their provisions in, by 
canoes or on pack horses. All kinds of eatables were 
very dear at that time, even at the nearest settlements. 
This settlement suffered many privations; but those 
settlers are now well compensated, for they are the 
owners of flourishing farms, and are themselves in a 
prosperous condition. It is usually known by the 
name of the Lower Settlement. 

Several years previous to 1810, the first settlement 
commenced in the county began. A Mr. King, an 
enterprising English gentleman, with several friends 
of his from England, settled on the Osweyo Creek, 
in Ceres Township, twenty-five miles from Smethport. 
There is now a flourishing settlement here ; and some 
of the oldest orchards are in that neighborhood. 
This neighborhood is usually called King's Settle- 
ment. 

Norwich Settlement, lying along the Potato Creek, 
commencing about four miles southeast from Smeth- 
port, and extending up that stream, was commenced 
in 1815, when fourteen families came on, having ex- 
changed their property in Norwich, Chenango County, 
New York, with Messrs. Cooper, Mcllvain and Com- 
pany, for those lands where they now reside, being 
then an entire wilderness. Having no roads, they 
were obliged to ascend the Potato Creek, with much 
labor and expense, in canoes, with their families and 
movables. They were under much embarrassment 
for the first year or two for want of roads and provi- 
sions. This settlement, like the Lower Settlement, 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 97 

was often obliged to get their provisions, grain, etc., 
in Jersey Shore, a distance of more than one hundred 
miles, on pack horses. Corn was worth when got 
here $2.00 per bushel, and salt was sold for $14.00 per 
barrel. This settlement went on vigorously, and in 
two or three years raised more than sufficient for their 
own consumption. It is now in a flourishing situa- 
tion. 

A settlement had been commenced at Instanter, 
four miles west of the Norwich Settlement, a short 
time previous to the latter ; and in 1821 or 1822, four 
hundred acres of land was cleared on one farm be- 
longing to Jacob Ridgeway, Esquire, under the super- 
intendence of Mr. P. E. Scull, who has always been 
an active man in furthering the improvement of this 
new county. Judge Bishop, now one of our associate 
judges, was the first settler at that place. Since 
those settlements were formed, others have been com- 
menced and carried on in different parts of the county. 
The townships of Bradford and Corydon have within 
the last three years been rapidly increasing. 

CHARACTER OF THE POPULATION 

Those families principally located in this county 
have emigrated from New York and the New England 
States. There are a few Pennsylvania-bred people 
and a few foreigners. The general character of the 
population is a sober, intelligent, industrious and 
frugal people; so much so, that there are very few 
cases of crime, or even misdemeanor carried into our 
courts of justice. Their liberality in aiding public 
improvements, by private subscription is, I believe, 
much more than ordinary, as has been evinced by 



98 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

their subscriptions to our roads, our turnpike, acad- 
emy, etc. 

Like other parts of our country, various de- 
nominations of Christians prevail. Methodist, Bap- 
tist, Presbyterian and the Union Church, are the 
names of the principal sects. Public worship is 
regularly attended in all parts of the county. 

Political parties have not, as yet, produced much 
excitement here. Men have been elected to office with- 
out regard to party distinction — merit and public 
policy being the prevailing question. 

The people are friendly, hospitable, and anxious 
to do all in their power to facilitate the improvement 
of the county and to encourage the settlement of the 
territory. 

INDUCEMENTS TO SETTLERS 

As the happiness and prosperity of every man de- 
pends much upon the enjoyment of good health, it is 
obviously important to those desirous of settling in 
a new county, to look out a situation where the county 
is healthy. Probably none in the United States can 
be found more so than this — the country being some- 
what hilly — the water, not impregnated with any 
corrosive minerals, rising from springs and descend- 
ing with a tolerable current, is perfectly pure. There 
is, in truth, no bad water in the county — the country 
is, consequently, healthy, and offers a strong induce- 
ment to settlers on that account. 

I believe it is admitted by many of our most intel- 
ligent farmers that the same amount of labor expended 
on a grazing farm is more productive of profit than 
a like amount expended on a grain farm; if so, this 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 99 

county presents a fair object for the grazing farmer, 
because our lands will abundantly supply all the 
grain necessary for consumption, and more, if he 
chooses to raise it, and at the same time be more pro- 
ductive of grass than almost any other lands, and his 
stock, when fit for market, will find ready sale at a 
liberal price. It is not uncommon that those who 
emigrate to a new county are poor; if so, a poor man 
can more readily realize a profit by grazing from his 
nearly cleared land, with the same labor, than from 
a grain farm ; because, after the land is first cleared, 
it does not require plowing for wheat, but by barely 
harrowing in his seed the land will produce from 
fifteen to twenty-five bushels of good wheat each acre 
— then his grass seed may be sown, without even 
dragging, upon the snow in the spring, and his land is 
fit for grazing. So he has not the trouble, vexation 
and expense of plowing among roots and stumps on 
new land to raise grain, from year to year, before the 
roots and stumps are rotted out, but may go on, cut- 
ting his meadows, and pasturing his lands until the 
roots and stumps rot out of themselves. 

Another reason to the man without capital is that 
if money cannot readily be obtained to pay for his 
land yet the common currency of the country — 
county and road orders — may almost always be ob- 
tained for labor. These will pay for land the same 
as cash. A man with his ox team will earn enough 
in one day at work on the roads to pay for an acre of 
land, for good lands may be purchased for $ 1.50 per 
acre, and he can get that sum for a day's wages with 
his team. Hence a man who will work on the roads 
twenty-five days each year, for four years, may obtain 



100 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

one hundred acres of land — this certainly is a very 
great inducement to the poor man. 

As this county is yet new and improving, laborers 
are much wanted, and can always find employment 
and get good wages ; more than is usually paid in the 
older counties. A single man of industrious, tem- 
perate and frugal habits can pay for a hundred acres 
of good land in less than two years by laboring by 
the month, besides his expenses for clothing and 
pocket money. The man that has a healthy family 
of boys, and wishes to settle his family about him, 
and who has a farm of, say, one hundred acres of land 
in the old countries, may sell or exchange his one 
hundred acres in the old for one thousand in this 
county of equally as good soil and as healthy a cli- 
mate. He then has land sufficient to make ten good 
farms; and by a few years of industry may see every 
member of his family settled about him, each the 
owner of a flourishing farm. 

Even the manufacturing or farming capitalist 
would find it to his advantage to settle in our new 
country — the manufacturer because in the old coun- 
tries there are so many manufacturers that they pro- 
duce great competition, which consequently tends to 
reduce the price of the manufactured articles ; in the 
new country there is less competition. Consequently 
a greater demand and a much better price. The 
capitalist farmer benefits himself in the exchange, 
because his farm and property in the old country has 
risen to its utmost value, little or no prospect of rise 
in value, whereas in the new landed property almost 
invariably increases in value, and not infrequently 
is rapidly enhanced, almost assuredly so if he makes 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 101 

a good choice in his location. Besides this considera- 
tion the productions of the soil bring a better price, 
with the same and even less labor, by twenty -five per 
cent. Indeed, it must be a pleasant reflection at the 
meridian, or in the decline of life, that your farm and 
the adjoining country was a few years ago a howling 
wilderness, untenanted by man ! That you have wit- 
nessed it through the changes from its first rugged 
state to its earliest improvements and its present 
prosperous condition; that you have witnessed the 
gradual developments of the country; that you have 
by your own labor removed the sturdy forest, and 
caused the wilderness to bud and blossom like the 
rose; that with your own hand you planted those 
fruit trees under the shade of which you now eat 
their delicious fruit. Few things are more animating 
to the human mind than to witness improvements. 
It gives energy to the moral and activity to the phys- 
ical powers of man. In a flourishing new country 
you are constantly witnessing a change by improve- 
ment, in an old one seldom any; and really it is not 
among the least consoling reflections, that you can 
sit down of a winter's eve, treat yourself and friends 
with a flowing mug of good cider and a fruit dish of 
apples from trees planted and reared by your own 
industry, and recount to your children, grandchil- 
dren and neighbors, tales of privation and suffering 
and heroic exploits endured and performed by you in 
days gone by. These are reflections only to be en- 
joyed by the new country settlers. 

The above remarks are a bare matter of statement, 
without polish or ornament. If they should have any 
tendency to guide the pioneer in finding our county, 



102 OELO JAY HAMLIN 

there to make a home amongst us, the writer will be 
amply repaid for his time spent in drawing up this 
plain statement. There are doubtless many omis- 
sions of important facts not known to me, as I have 
only resided in the county since its organization for 
judicial purposes, but am sufficiently well pleased 
with it to make it the home of my adoption for life. 



SKETCH OF THE HILL SCENERY SUR- 
ROUNDING SMETHPORT 

I PROPOSE to write a little gossip, not about the 
neighbors, but about the hills, the hills of our 
own native land, the hills by which our little town is 
surrounded; as they appear in the autumn season of 
the year. Go with me in imagination to the summit 
of the rise of ground west of the Borough, stand by 
the roadside and look down the valley, and beyond the 
village toward the valley of the Nun-un-dah (Potato 
Creek), and the hill range beyond, take in the whole 
panoramic view at a glance, and then view the out- 
lines more at leisure. First look at the hill range 
at your right, a long range extending for many miles 
along the south of Marvin Creek valley, and terminat- 
ing before you in the valley of the Nun-un-dah. It 
rises from the valley at first very gradually and forms 
a gentle slope. On this slope are cultivated fields and 
houses, interspersed with patches of forest trees and 
shrubs. Higher up it rises faster and the grade is 
steeper, all forest now; then another steeper grade 
still and you gain the summit, and are six hundred 
feet above the level of Marvin ; the summit is narrow 
in the main, only little more than room for a wagon 
road. Sometimes, however, it may be found widened 
and forms a plateau; when you pass the summit to 
the other side, it descends the same as it rises on this 
side, but both sides are very irregular in their forma- 

103 



104 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

tion, no two alike, a constant change of outline, pre- 
senting bold projections, or slight undulations, ever 
varying, the projections casting their shadows along 
the hillside, changing the apparent color of the forest 
foliage and making an agreeable illusion. You may 
imagine it a giant's shadow in the distance. These 
hill ranges are peculiar and unique. No other coun- 
try I ever saw produces such hills. They are more 
miniature mountains than hills; to coin a word, they 
are mountainettes, often in long continuous ranges of 
many miles, then a narrow valley, then a stream of 
water, and then another range of hills, and so on 
for all the surrounding country to a great distance on 
all sides : probably a hundred miles in length by sixty 
miles in breadth. If one could get into a balloon and 
start from one of their summits, and go up a few 
hundred feet towards the clouds and look around 
him, he would see spread beneath and around what 
would look like a sea of forests, the hilltops represent- 
ing the combs of the waves, and the valleys the 
troughs of the billows. Only think, an ocean of for- 
est, which you take in by the eye at a glance, seen in 
all the grandeur and sublimity of nature's own crea- 
tive power. As you look around, the eye tries in vain 
to see where the view terminates ; as you look around 
hill range rises after hill range, intervening valley 
after intervening valley, as waves rise up and roll on, 
one wave after another, until all is mingled and 
blended into one interminable ocean of wilderness; 
except that you would now and then see in the valley 
or on the side-hills a cultivated farm and its tene- 
ments, looking like small islands dotted about in the 
ocean of endless foliage, spread out before you. 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 105 

Except also several large tracts of tablelands of many 
miles in circuit cultivated and divided off into farm 
and fields with orchards and farm houses, over one of 
these upland levels might be seen the clanking, whiz- 
zing, railroad locomotive, making the adjoining forest 
vocal, and startling the deer browsing therein with the 
reverberating voice of its shrill whistle as it wends its 
way to the coal mines : a good field-glass would also 
show a line of telegraph poles and its wires shooting 
off the intelligence it conveys to our Borough which 
claims the dignity among towns of being the county 
seat or capital of the county. 

Now if you descend and once more stand on terra 
firma at our first standpoint and take another look at 
the hill range to your right you will see that it is 
mainly clothed with a dense growth of large timber, 
among which the somber, somewhat gloomy and dark 
green leaved hemlock (the American fir tree of the 
botanist) largely predominates. They are tall, 
straight and majestic, rearing their pyramidal heads 
far above the others and their neighboring brethren 
of the forest and standing like tall beacons in the sun- 
light, casting their lengthened shadows far over the 
landscape, even reaching the valley beneath. Inter- 
spersed with them are very many deciduous trees of 
much less pretensions in their size and height, but 
far surpassing them in the beauty of their foliage. 

On the summit of this range, at the eastern ex- 
tremity, just where it begins to fall off toward the 
valley of the Nunundah, is the wild weird-looking 
place called, in the rough language of the early set- 
tlers, the " Devil's Den." But allow me to suggest 
for it a more euphonious name, and call it the De- 



106 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

mon's Home ; and well may it be imagined the home of 
the bad spirit, for it is a collection of high rocks and 
broken fragments piled promiscuously by the careless 
hand of nature in a confused and mingled mass, un- 
derneath the largest of which is a small cave, in which 
the Demon may be supposed to hide and repose him- 
self by day, and coming out by night to roam about 
seeking whom he may next devour. 

Before you take a view of the left-hand range, turn 
around and look toward the west. You see spread 
before you " Sleepy Hollow, Junior," — that of Wash- 
ington Irving's luxurious fancy being Sleepy Hollow, 
Senior — a quiet and pleasant little valley divided 
into farms, interspersed with farm-houses, barns and 
orchards, those certain evidences of American in- 
dustry and thrift. Look to the western extremity of 
this pretty hill-bound valley and you will see the stage 
road as it wends its way up the hill towards Alton. 
To the. right of the road, as it winds up the ascent, 
you see a high, conical hill raising its tall peak gradu- 
ally towards the clouds. At the summit of this hill, 
which may be reached by a winding footpath, is a re- 
markable rock called in the rough vernacular the 
" Devil's Temple." I suggest that this name also 
would be shorn of its harshness by calling it The 
Demon's Temple Rock. It is a ponderous fragment 
of an immense rock which nearly or quite covers the 
summit of the hill peak; the fragment as large as a 
church having been in one of those convulsive throes 
of nature severed from its parent rock and left stand- 
ing as a monument of nature's power. 

The top of the rock can be reached by falling a 
large tree against its perpendicular side and climbing 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 107 

up to the summit, or by spanning the chasm of about 
fifty feet by a tree felled horizontally. The Temple 
rock is an oblong square, and underneath one side of 
the table rock is a small sloping cave from the center 
of which issues a large spring of deliciously clear and 
cool water. This temple is a fitting place to have been 
selected by one of the orgies of Dante's Inferno for 
the worship of his Satanic Majesty; and as demons 
are believed to be fiery spirits, the demon of this 
temple would find an admirable fountain in the spring 
under the rock to slake his thirst. 

This temple has a lonely site, being surrounded on 
all sides except the east by an extensive forest of 
densely growing woods ; on the east it is within half a 
mile of the skirt of the hollow. Its immediate sur- 
roundings are tall hemlocks and with an undergrowth 
of laurel, so that the foliage is all of the darkest hue ; 
or this rock would be a strange place to spend a night 
and witness the rising of the sun at morning. At 
night he would be surrounded by gloomy forests, out 
of hearing of the human voice, or seeing any sign of 
civilization; he would sometimes be startled by the 
sharp barking of a fox, perhaps by the snarling of the 
wild cat, and anon by the hideous howl of the wolf 
who on some distant hilltop was calling to one of its 
companions, prowling in some swamp perhaps far 
distant; after a while he would finally be treated to 
a serenade from a fatherly or motherly old owl, who, 
high up in a distant treetop, monotonously and mourn- 
fully repeated his continuously reiterated who — who 
— who ! and another whooting owl would answer him 
from his perch upon another tree perhaps a mile dis- 
tant. Looking around to guess where the monoto- 



108 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

nous music came from, the tenant of the rock might 
possibly see the fiery glaring eyes of some panther as 
he lay crouched upon the large branch of a tree near 
at hand, watching for a luckless deer or other animal 
who might happen to pass near enough to be within 
reach of his fatal bound, when one spring of the 
monster would end the days of the luckless animal 
destined to make a meal for this cougar of the forest. 
The rockbound tenant in time might become drowsy, 
possibly sleep, soon to be awakened by an unearthly 
screech from another owl of a different species, far 
off in the woods, whose frightful screech seemed to 
be made for no other purpose than to see how near 
it could imitate the cry of a woman in agony, scream- 
ing in her frantic efforts to save an endangered child. 
The lonely tenant would find it a long, weary night 
and often wish and perhaps pray for the coming day. 
When it did dawn and show its dimly shadowed light 
around him, he might notice a crackling made in the 
dry underbrush by a deer which had risen from his 
lair, and was searching about amongst the underwood 
to browse for its breakfast; he might hear the 
matin song of the wild birds; he might see the awk- 
ward limping rabbit ambling in the next cluster of 
laurels, or hear the whir of the pheasant on the wing 
as it passed him. When the sun had risen and gilded 
the valley with its brilliant rays of light, if he rises 
from his rocky couch and can find a vista through the 
treetops, he would see beneath and beyond him the 
quiet nook of Sleepy Hollow, lying gracefully and 
calmly reposing like a coy maiden sleeping in her 
unconscious beauty, and possibly a glimpse of the 
village beyond. Soon he would see the farmers mov- 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 109 

ing about in different directions attending to their 
different domestic avocations ; looking across the val- 
ley he might see a lean thief of a carrion crow as it 
flew lazily, flapping its slow wings over the fields and 
crying " Caw — caw — caw ! " as it sought the neigh- 
boring woods to hide or eat some treasure it had 
plundered from the farmer's garner or barnyard ; and 
perhaps a flock of nimble blackbirds or blue jays, re- 
treating from some foraging expedition on one of 
the corn fields. When the sun was fully up and had 
bathed the whole valley in light, the scene might be 
crowned by the exhibition of a large hawk, nearly the 
size of an eagle, beginning its circle over the center 
of the hollow, far above the hilltops, in the air and 
slowly circling around, extending that circle, until it 
embraced the whole extent of the valley in its circuit 
and had reached in its aerial flight from hilltop to 
hilltop and gone up — up — up — until it was nearly 
lost to human vision, as it upward soared to greet the 
rising sun. 

And now if our hero of the Temple Rock can safely 
descend from his eyrie-like lodging place, reach the 
ground and thank his guiding star for his deliverance, 
he will very likely be " homeward bound," dreamingly 
musing as he trudges along, that Sleepy Hollow 
would be a fitting place in which the fairies and elfins 
might hold their midnight revels and dance by the 
light of the harvest moon. 

Sleepy Hollow was by some of the early settlers 
named " Poverty Hollow," by way of derision. This 
was an unmistakable misnomer, as it is as productive 
a valley as there is in all the country around. 

Resuming our former standpoint and looking to- 



110 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

ward the east, we see Marvin Creek in the basin of 
the valley with its silvery sheet of water winding its 
way towards its junction with the Nunundah. First, 
to the left of it comes a narrow flat lowland, then the 
first bench, or more properly first slow rise of upland, 
as it gradually rises toward the hill at our left, half a 
mile or more wide and a mile or more in length; on 
this first grade is stationed the village, its white 
houses with their roofs, steeples, and cupolas of the 
churches, and public buildings shimmering in the 
flickering sunshine; back of the village the hillside 
of cleared fields takes a second and steeper rise, then 
again a third and still steeper grade until the fields 
reach near the summit of the hill, save that the high- 
est grade is mostly woodland, as it approaches the 
summit; that summit being mainly covered with tall 
evergreen trees, interspersed by patches only covered 
by underwood. This hill next the village forms a 
central curve scooped out in the form of an amphi- 
theater, covering three-fourths of the hillside. At the 
right hand extremity of the summit of this hill at its 
highest elevation and more than six hundred feet 
above the level of the valley, stands a clump of about 
a dozen tall pines, looming up and raising their 
pointed tops a hundred and fifty feet above the hilltop. 

They can be seen as a landmark for miles of dis- 
tance from different standpoints of the surrounding 
country. 

Beyond those tall trees, the hilltop begins to de- 
scend: first slowly, then rapidly and steeper and 
steeper until it reaches down nearly to the waters of 
the Nunundah, at a place called the Dug-way or Nar- 
rows. Those tall pines stand among their neighbor- 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 111 

ing trees as Napoleon the First was said to stand 
among men, — alone, " grand, gloomy, solitary and 
peculiar." They have lived while twenty generations 
of human beings have been born, lived, passed over 
their stages of human existence, and gone to the spirit 
land. When Columbus discovered this continent, 
those trees were seedlings, just starting from the 
earth on their journey of life; when Luther was 
preaching that religious reformation in Germany, 
which caused more commotion in the religious world 
than any political revolution in aftertimes, those trees 
were yet young. When Shakespeare was tripping 
across the fields to visit Anne Hathaway at her 
mother's cottage on the lawn near Stratford-on-the- 
Avon, and the Earl of Leicester was holding his revels 
at Kennilworth Castle, with Queen Elizabeth and her 
court for his guests, those trees were still young. 
When the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock and 
planted their colony on its sterile soil — although 
they brought with them more sectarianism and intol- 
erance than agrees with the ideas of the modern 
liberal mind, yet they adopted and carried out those 
habits of prudence, industry, indomitable energy and 
unyielding self-reliance which have established for 
them and their successors a name among peoples and 
an exalted position among the nations of the earth 
— those trees were in their primal vigor. When the 
intelligent, amiable and gentlemanly John Keating, 
Esquire (long since deceased), but then in the vigor 
of his manhood, first saw them while visiting as 
landed proprietor of these hills and these valleys, 
those trees had hardly began to grow old. They have 
lived through our old war with the French in Canada, 



112 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

our war in the Revolution, and a second war with Eng- 
land, our Mexican war and our final struggle with 
and victory over the Southern rebellion; and had 
they the gift of sight and the power of speech, they 
could tell us all about the unwritten history of 
these surroundings — when the red man was lord 
of the ascendant over these his hunting grounds, 
when the pale faces first began to make their 
lodgments here and of their early sacrifices, pri- 
vations and trials in changing this wilderness 
into cultivated fields and making it the abode of 
civilization, refinement, and comfortable homes for 
themselves and their descendants. But they have not 
those gifts and must remain while they live, the silent 
witness of ages that are passed, never to return. 

Those noble trees are old now, and must finally 
yield to the gnawing tooth of time. Probably, by the 
close of the present century, their bodies will lie pros- 
trate upon the earth. They will die; but not die 
unmourned. Near by them stands a little grove of 
youngling pines, and when those venerable old trees 
are dead, the younglings will be old enough to sing 
their requiem in the language of sighs, as the wind 
gently and gracefully bends their young boughs while 
it moves, fondly toying with and embracing their 
tiny leaves on its way as it passes over the hilltop. 

Now let us look over the village and beyond the 
valley to the eastern hill range. It is different from 
the others, being broader, higher and as a whole 
formed on a more grand and imposing scale. At the 
left of it we see an opening among the hills; that is 
another small valley through which courses from the 
upland height a streamlet, threading its way around 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 113 

sharp points and bold bluffs to mingle its tributary 
waters with the Nunundah : we see the little glen in 
its whole course from the source of the streamlet to 
its mouth, and the projecting hillsides as they rise 
to their summits. Those projecting hills are irregu- 
lar ; some angular, some conical, some pyramidal and 
others rise with an irregular broad slope gradually to 
their summits, like the broad slope of a mountain at 
its base ; they as a whole may be imagined to resemble, 
on a miniature scale, the mountain scenery of the 
Alps. Near the top of the broad slope to the right of 
the rivulet is a clearing with a house and barn on it, 
called Prospect Hill. From this standpoint is ob- 
tained one of the best views of distant hill scenery in 
this vicinity. Summer excursionists frequently re- 
sort there, provided with a field glass or telescope to 
take a bird's-eye survey of its surroundings. From 
this point they see the valley of the Nunundah 
for many miles up and down lying quietly before them, 
with the picturesque scenery of smooth water, cleared 
farms and their buildings, little islands that look as 
specks on the shining water. They also see the vil- 
lage distinctly and a perfect view of the whole length 
of Main Street, with teams and carriages passing and 
repassing, with people going to and fro as inclination 
or business may require. They may also see by the 
aid of the glass many distant points, as Bunker Hill, 
Teutonia, Turtle Point, Farmers' Valley etc., in short, 
a large portion of the surrounding country for ten to 
fifteen miles of distance. 

Here we may freely breathe the mountain air, 
And view the landscape from afar ; 
May feel the cool zephyr of the summer breeze 
And see the painted foliage of forest trees. 



114 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

The rise of ground west of the village, and Prospect 
Hill, are good positions for views of portions of hill 
scenery of northern Pennsylvania, but there are scores 
of others, particularly, as I should think, at " Kane's 
summit and station " on the Philadelphia & Erie 
Railroad, in the western part of this county. 

This east hill range is not bare, but covered with 
trees in great profusion and variety ; prominently we 
see the tall, straight, dark green and somber looking 
hemlock, not that fatal hemlock of which Socrates, 
Demosthenes and Hannibal drank and then instantly 
expired; but the useful and harmless hemlock of the 
northern climes, its boughs so fragrant and health- 
giving, that the traveler who makes his bed upon them 
on the ground in the open air of the summer season 
and sleeps soundly all night, will not take cold. Its 
medicinal leaves make, when steeped, a beverage that 
will drive the fever from the boiling blood ; and from 
its bark issues a gum, not so glistening as the tears 
shed by the famous " Tree of Araby," but far more 
useful in quieting pain in the tortured limb of the 
rheumatic sufferer. Next we may see the stately 
oak ; not the " charter oak of historic memory," but 
those containing hollows large enough in which to 
hide our Declaration of Independence, and a copy of 
the Federal Constitution also; and large enough 
to successfully conceal the body of a full grown grizzly 
bear. Now we may see the tall and graceful sugar 
maple, standing in groups with their beautiful, ftve- 
lobed, pointed leaves, from the life blood or sap of 
which is made that saccharine material which rivals 
the sugar cane of the Indies. In every direction we 
may recognize the more slender form of the beechen 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 115 

tree which annually yields those millions of nuts, in 
spring time spread under the dry leaves on the ground 
on which the wild pigeon makes its sumptuous ban- 
quet. Scattered here and there is the stately elm ; 
not the " Treaty Elm " of William Penn, but equally 
large, tall, widespread and imposing, as it rears its 
majestic head far above its neighbors and looks the 
monarch of the woodlands. Occasionally we find the 
magnolia or tulip tree of the North, known here as 
the cucumber tree, with its tall, straight body, its 
dignified, unyielding and unbending limbs and twigs, 
disdaining to stoop or bend, but always looking up- 
ward, with its fine large shady leaf. 

On the ridges and low grounds grow the chestnut, 
the walnut and the butternut, which remind the young 
folks of cracking and eating their delicious nuts on 
the long winter's nights, during the Christmas holi- 
days. 

Then the ash, more fatal to the poisonous rattle- 
snake than the fell Upas of the East is to the human 
species. And now the graceful sycamore which so 
delightfully shades the walks and dwellings in cities 
and villages of every clime, called here the linn or the 
basswood. And standing on some isolated spot oc- 
casionally is found the gigantic form of an ancient 
birch, of the same species as that from which the 
" boat of birchen bark " was made, referred to by 
Tom Moore in his song of the Dismal Swamp, begin- 
ning: 

They made her a grave too cold and damp, 

For a heart so warm and true ; 
And she's gone to the lake of the dismal swamp, 

Where all night long by her fire-fly lamp, 
She paddles her light canoe. 



116 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

Till he made him a boat from birchen bark, 
Which carried him off from the shore, 

Long he followed that meteor spark, 
The wind was high and the night was dark, 

And the boat returned no more. 

Added to the variety of trees already mentioned 
are a host of underwood and shrubbery of all species 
common to this northern latitude, interspersed and 
mingled with and among their taller neighbors so that 
the whole woody hill range is clothed with trees and 
tree foliage as a garment; not a nook or a cranny 
but has its bush or its shrub. Here grow the hazlenut 
and the beechnut, from which the squirrel, red, black, 
gray and striped, replenish their granaries and treas- 
ure up their store for winter use. Here the wild 
pigeon builds its nest and rears its brood and adds 
its other million of young birds to make the next, 
and perhaps tenth, generation for the past year. I 
leave the almost endless variety of wild flowers, and 
blossoming shrubs here unmentioned, because they 
take too small a part in the great exhibition which 
nature has here presented in her panorama of natural 
scenery, to be noticed in the landscape view. 

Much of the remarkable beauty of American scenery 
depends on that peculiar brilliancy and variety of 
color exhibited by its foliage in autumn, when it has 
arrived at its perfection and is about to assume that 
" sere and yellow leaf " from which nature seems to 
have destined it never to recover; look then at this 
landscape scene through the magic lens of that " dis- 
tance " which " lends enchantment " to the scene, and 
see the unfoldings of the grandeur and exquisite love- 
liness of autumn foliage shown on the picture of yon 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 117 

hillside. See the inimitable blending of the crimson 
and gold; the purple, the yellow, the orange, green 
and the white, with every possible shade between, so 
variously, so perfectly and so glowingly intermingled 
and shaded together as to astonish and fascinate the 
imagination and bewilder the swimming eye, as it 
looks over this sea of glory and takes in its wonderful 
charm. See the lights and the shadows of this varie- 
gated scene, showing in glowing forms all the magic 
hues of the rainbow, painted by a pencil held in the 
hand of the Almighty, and dipped in the rays of 
light : — beauty in any form is always an absorbing 
and interesting sensation to the human eye and the 
emotional feelings of man, and this scene is the match- 
less beauty of God's perfection. Color when com- 
mingled and blended is always bewitching to the eye ; 
color alone may not charm, but when all the gorgeous 
colors formed by the goodness and wisdom of the cre- 
ative power are softened, mingled, shaded and har- 
monized together by the hand of unapproachable per- 
fection, the result can never be described ; we can only 
look upon it in mute astonishment, admiring with all 
our hearts and praise the glorious Giver. 

As you cast your wandering eye over it, this grand 
picture of nature's own painting is ever varying, ever 
changing; that great, tall tree casts its shade here, 
that other tree casts a darker shadow there, that dark 
evergreen almost hides the foliage yonder while this 
lighter colored green-leafed tree softens the shadowy 
glance, and makes it lighter. This angle of the hill 
casts the shadow of the sunlight far, and that bold pro- 
jection casts a less lengthened but darker shade, while 
the whole is richly blended together by sunlight. Here 



118 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

the golden yellow tint of the changing leaf of the soft 
maple predominates ; there the glowing crimson of the 
leaf of the sugar maple prevails. Then comes that 
modest bridal-colored yellow leaf of the beech and 
shows forth its bridal dress. 

Now one with leaves more advanced in change, al- 
most puts on a drapery of snowy white, and then a 
cluster of leaves still unchanged show their emerald- 
like green covering with the sun shining upon them, 
like the sparkling of an emerald diamond in gas light, 
or the swarded lawn glistening in the silvery light of 
the full-formed moon, dotted here and there by the 
evening's dew drops, as the changing spots are seen on 
their leaves. Anon we see the russet brown of the 
fading leaf, and then a cluster in which all those 
colors are not most artistically but most naturally and 
enchantingly commingled and delightfully blended 
together like a bouquet of lovely flowers, so rich and 
so charming that you seem to scent the delightful odor 
of their fragrance. Before this scene one stands at 
first enraptured and entranced, and then involuntarily 
exclaims : " What a scene of thrilling and overpow- 
ering beauty ! " 

As a whole it seems to stand before you as a broad, 
grand pyramid of irregular sides, covered with an end- 
less variety of blooming flowers interspersed with 
shrubs of the dark green leafed orange tree and the 
laurel, the lilac and the rose bush all in full bloom; 
looming up from the level of the valley and rising 
upward and onward up, more than six hundred feet 
high, with the serene blue sky for its background, 
burnished by the golden rays of the setting sun, — an 
imposing picture drawn by the Divine Architect of 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 119 

heaven, which once seen is too deeply imprinted on the 
mind ever to be erased from memory. It imaginarily 
might be compared to the rising waves of a sea of wild- 
flowers. 

If our first parents, Adam and his consort, found the 
garden of Eden as beautiful and attractive in the 
drapery of the foliage of its trees as this richly colored 
scene, they indeed dwelled in a terrestrial paradise. 

As the physiognomy of the human face made in the 
Divine likeness of the Deity may be chiseled in its full- 
est excellence of classic symmetry of form, color and 
proportion, yet to make it the ideal of perfection it 
must have that expression which causes the emotional 
soul to shine forth from out that face of molded and 
painted clay ; and then, and then only, is it the " hu- 
man form divine." So this picture of nature in the 
landscape has not only form, symmetry and color, but 
it has expression, and that expression is loveliness, in 
every aspect. 

A morning view of this scene is singularly attrac- 
tive. When the sun first rises, the whole valley and 
hill is often enveloped in mist, impenetrable to vision, 
gently floating in the atmosphere ; but a gentle breeze 
or the sun's warmth soon begins to cause it to lift, 
showing brief glimpses of the variegated foliage and 
the forms of the half hidden trees. And now begins 
to steal over the feelings of the beholder that strange 
impression of absorbing mystery, which so wonder- 
fully affects the workings of an imaginative mind ; the 
doubt, the uncertainty, the strangely fascinating mys- 
tery of what shape, form or commingling of forms the 
next changing, ever-varying lifting of the mist may 
unfold, gives to the mind that concentrated interest 



120 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

in the next development called curiosity, or desire to 
know and witness a new experience and as the imagi- 
native mind always peoples a half hidden view with 
more than usual attractiveness, so the interest becomes 
keener and more keen and finally intense. Then the 
imagination pictures that " each dimly undiscovered 
scene, more beauteous seems than all the past hath 
been " ; and thus the beholder silently gazes on the 
mysterious unfoldings of those changing views with 
an intensified interest which wraps his whole soul in 
wonder and astonishment ; for we all well know that a 
beauty half concealed and half discovered is by far the 
most fascinating picture the eye can behold. This 
gradual, graceful lifting and rolling away of the mist 
is like the unveiling of a statue or removing the gauze 
veil from the form of matchless beauty. The eye and 
the imagination are intoxicated with delight. But 
the morning scene is past and the evening scene ap- 
proaches. 

And now while we still linger to take a farewell look 
at this marvelous scene, the sun is fast falling behind 
the hill of the Demon's Temple and casting its shadow 
slowly and stealthily along the whole valley. 

"The mountain shadows on its breast, 
Seem neither broken nor at rest," 

as still the shadow broadens and lengthens until it 
reaches the base of the hill range beyond the Nunun- 
dah, and slowly climbs up its slope until it reaches its 
top, and night spreads its gloomy pall over hill and 
dale, over hamlet and village and all is shrouded in 
unbroken darkness, save that e'er the sun takes its 
final leave, it lingers a moment on the hill's crest, 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 121 

seems to blush in crimson, kisses its adieu in burn- 
ing rays of gilded light and is gone. 

Why it is that the forest foliage puts on its most 
richly adorned dress just before the doom of nature 
has bidden those leaves to die, we do not know. They 
seem to be draped in their most brilliant attire in 
which to celebrate their funeral rite, and offer them- 
selves up a sacrifice to the destroying elements of time. 
But as the swan is mythically believed to sing most 
sweetly in its expiring moments, so the foliage is 
clothed in majestic loveliness just before the trees dis- 
robe themselves for their long winter's sleep. 

The scene described was not one embracing all the 
grandeur, the majesty and the sublimity of the scen- 
ery of the Rocky Mountains or the Pacific Coast; 
here those mighty qualities are wanting. We have 
here simply a scene of unparalleled beauty in Nature's 
repose. This would not be a fitting view for an artist 
to portray such a picture as Church's Falls of the 
Niagara, Banvard's Views of the Mississippi, or Bier- 
stadt's Rocky Mountains ; but our hill scenery is well 
worth both viewing and sketching by any artist ad- 
mirer of the glorious works of the Creative Power. 

Many years ago I once asked a literary acquaint- 
ance who was then stopping here temporarily, if he 
had ever stood at our standpoint and looked at the 
surrounding hills as they were putting on and wearing 
the livery of their changed dress, and beheld them 
with an eye to nature. He replied, " Yes ; I have 
looked at them until tears came into my eyes," a fit- 
ting tribute as I then thought to our autumn hill 
scenery. 

The summer foliage of these trees, for this season, 



122 ORLO JAY HAMLIN 

are now dead ; they are now strewed on the ground in 
quantities like Milton's host of angels, " their num- 
bers, numberless " ; they are crumbling to that dust 
from the elements of which they sprang. Their kin- 
dred from year to year have fallen as they have fallen, 
for six thousand autumnal seasons. They are soulless 
and rest in oblivion forever. So have the children of 
man lived, died and passed away, generation after gen- 
eration, for a like period of time ; but when he dies, if 
a Christian, he may expire like him in Campbell's 
vision of the last man : 

"Defying Time to quench his immortality 
Or shake his trust in God." 

I may add the reflection that, although those leaves 
have fallen, those fine old trees, their parent stems are 
not also dead; they but sleep, gently sleep while the 
winter winds will sing their lullaby; and when the 
genial sun of the summer solstice shall again return, 
they will send forth their fresh million of young 
leaves again to cover the forests with their summer 
garments and clothe them in their accustomed beauty. 
The flowers will again spring forth from innumer- 
able buds, and both the hillside and the valleys will 
be made to bloom and to blossom like the Rose of 
Sharon and the Lily of the Valley of Hebron. All 
nature will again rejoice in its glory and sing together 
in harmony, joyous as the chiming of marriage bells. 



COAL FIELDS OF McKEAN COUNTY, 
PENNSYLVANIA 

CLERMONT GOAL MINES 

THE first semi-bituminous coal found in this 
county was discovered by a surveying party, of 
which Jonathan Colegrove, Esquire, of Norwich 
Township in this county, was chief. The party were 
engaged in resurveying and allotting a portion of the 
Cooper lands in the neighborhood of Instantar in the 
year 1815 or 1816. When not far west of Instantar, 
they observed several trees blown down and turned 
up by their roots. They saw beneath the surface of 
the ground that the roots had rested on stone coal, 
found the coal there, and some trees had turned up 
with the roots lumps of coal. This account I had 
from Mr. Wheeler Gallup, who was one of the men 
engaged in the surveying party referred to and he is 
(in 1875) still living. Thus was fortuitously discov- 
ered the coal fields at Instantar, and I may add that 
the first stone coal originally found in this State was 
discovered by an accident. In 1803, a man by the 
name of Giuther was hunting on the mountain near 
Mauch Chunk and accidentally stumbled into a hole 
made by a tree that had been turned up by the roots. 
In falling, he fell striking what he thought was a 
stone. On taking up the supposed stone he saw that 
it was black and shining and looked so curious that 
he carried it home. It turned out to be anthracite 

123 



124 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

stone coal. The land was bought from the State by 
Colonel Weise, who sent six ark loads of the coal by 
the Lehigh River to Philadelphia, but the citizens did 
not know how to burn it. ( Four of the arks were lost 
and but two got to market.) The coal was pounded 
up in the streets to macadamize the roads. 

In 1817, anthracite coal was found near Pottsville, 
Pennsylvania, and eight or ten wagon loads of it sent 
by Colonel Shoemaker to Philadelphia. At first they 
could not make it burn, but one of the workmen in a 
furnace put some of it into his furnace and worked all 
the forenoon trying by the use of kindlings and bel- 
lows and constant stirring with a poker to get it to 
burn, but failed. He worked himself into a sweat, 
got mad about noon at the coal and saying a bad 
word, slammed the sheet iron door of the furnace to, 
and went to dinner. On returning from dinner he 
saw the iron door was red hot. Opening it with a 
crowbar, he saw it was all aglow with the heated coal 
then all red with heat and said, " Them stones will 
burn after all." It was then perceived that it would 
burn if let alone, and the coal henceforth found a 
steadily increasing demand in the market until in 
1874 about twenty millions of tons in Pennsylvania 
per annum were sent to market. 

I omitted to mention that before the furnaceman 
had found that " them stones would burn/ 7 a warrant 
had been gotten out for Colonel Shoemaker for 
swindling in selling a kind of stones in market for 
coal which were not coal, but the Colonel got wind of 
it and left the city on horseback for his home and 
thus escaped being arrested. 

To return to the subject of the McKean County coal 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 125 

fields, about 1817, Ransom Beckwith found an outcrop 
of coal on his farm about a mile from Instantar. Be- 
ing a blacksmith, he tried the coal, found it good for 
a smith's forge and introduced its use among the 
neighboring blacksmiths. Soon after this, the Barrus 
bed, now known as the Lyman bed, was discovered 
which has been nearly every year since more or less 
constantly worked for over forty years. 

In about 1820, coal was discovered at the Clermont 
farm in digging for a well under the supervision of Mr. 
P. E. Scull. Since that time several other coal veins 
have been found ranging over an area of six to eight 
miles square in the vicinity of Instantar, the thick- 
ness of the beds varying from two feet and a half to 
five feet, presenting at the least five distinct veins, 
three of which are evidently workable and paying 
veins for mining. 

Thirty years ago coals were delivered from the 
Barrus bed at Smethport for a shilling a bushel. 
This coal was also for many years carried by teams 
to Portville, Olean, Franklinville, Cuba and other 
towns in Cattaraugus and Allegheny counties, New 
York, and sold to the blacksmiths for smithing, and 
several coal dealers at Smethport kept on hand a con- 
stant supply which was sold to teamsters who came 
here from the State of New York by sleighing or with 
wagons and purchased the coals and carried them to 
different places north and sold it to blacksmiths. It 
was sometimes carried as far as eighty miles, but on 
the completion of the New York and Erie Railroad the 
trade in coal from this county stopped, a supply being 
then obtained from other coal districts by that road 
cheaper than by carting it from our coal fields. 



126 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

The region of country about Instantar and that coal 
field has been generally called " Bunker Hill " for 
what reason I never knew. Since the completion of 
the Erie Railroad, no Bunker Hill coal has been sent 
to a foreign market, although it has been constantly 
used by our county blacksmiths and largely used at 
Smethport and burned in tight stoves and for open 
coal grates, proving satisfactory to the purchasers. 

In 1875, a new era has opened for the Bunker Hill 
coal region. The name of Bunker Hill is to be 
dropped and a new mining town is to be created to be 
called " Clermont." As to the origin of this name I 
may say that many years before Jacob Ridgway of 
Philadelphia caused to be cleared his farm of four 
hundred acres of land which he called the " Clermont 
Farm." He acted several years as United States 
Consul at Antwerp in Belgium where the French 
language was much spoken and he there learned to 
speak that language fluently and he is reported to 
have there laid the foundation of his future large 
fortune by consigning goods from Antwerp to his own 
mercantile house at Philadelphia. 

Before he returned to the United States he traveled 
through France and visited the Province of Auvergne 
and the ancient city of Clermont in that province built 
on Mont D'Or, around which city were many Roman 
antiquities then remaining. " Mont D'Orr " in the 
French language may be rendered Gold Mountain or 
a mountain containing gold. From this French town 
built on a hill or mountain Mr. Ridgway named his 
new farm, cleared in 1820 from a dense forest. Sub- 
sequent time has proved it not to be a mountain of 
gold but a hill containing a large deposit of mineral 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 127 

coal, a treasure probably more useful to the public 
and perhaps equally profitable to the present proprie- 
tors as though it had been a mountain containing gold- 
bearing quartz. 

This coal field has been known to the public for more 
than forty years and several railroad enterprises have 
at different times been projected (and practically 
given up ) with a view to reach this coal, not from want 
of feasibility, but from want of capital, until 1874. 

During the spring and summer of this year, the coal 
region at Clermont mines was scientifically examined 
under the direction of Professor John Macfarlane as a 
mining engineer and geologist, and the coal outcrop- 
ping thoroughly explored and tested, at the instance 
and expense of General George J. McGee. Under 
the supervision of Mr. Graham Macfarlane and in Sep- 
tember following, the " Buffalo Coal Company " was 
organized, General George J. McGee being made pres- 
ident, by an association of enterprising capitalists 
consisting of Messrs. G. R. Wilson, J. Condit Smith, 
S. S. Jewett, F. H. Root, N. G. Fargo, W. H. Glenney, 
P. P. Pratt, E. P. Reals, F. L. Danforth, G. B. Gates, 
W. T. Wilson, N. C. Rumsey, C. F. Hamlin, C. Clark, 
G. T. Williams and J. L. Schoelkopf of Buffalo, New 
York, Byron D. Hamlin of Smethport, General 
George J. McGee of Watkins, New York, James Mac- 
farlane of Towanda, Pennsylvania, J. F. McPherson 
of Warren, Pennsylvania, G. Macfarlane of Pennsyl- 
vania, D. Howell of Bath, New York, and Daniel 
Beach and J. Lang of Watkins, New York, with a 
capital of $1,000,000.00 and a railroad company by 
the title of The McKean & Buffalo Railroad Com- 
pany was organized with a capital of $400,000, 



128 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

mainly by the same gentlemen, with Byron D. Hamlin 
for president and Delano R. Hamlin as one of the 
directors. This railroad company commenced active 
business operations in the early part of October, 1874, 
and through their energy and indomitable persever- 
ance and that of the contractor, employees and labor- 
ers on the work, have at the time of the present 
writing (January, 1875) rendered the construction of 
the road very nearly an accomplished fact. 

Clermont Coal Mines are situate at the verge of a 
plateau or tableland in Sergeant Township, in this 
county, about thirteen miles south of Smethport and 
about one hundred ten miles south from Buffalo, New 
York, in about forty-one and one-half degrees north 
latitude and one and one-half degrees west longitude 
from Washington, D. C, and according to Major 
Long's United States civil engineer's report, Instantar 
is nearly in the direct air line from Washington, D. C, 
to the city of Buffalo, New York. They are less than 
one mile north of Instantar at Teutonia and less than 
a mile east from Bishop's Summit and from two to 
three miles south of Clermont Farms. Their altitude, 
according to Ed. Miller, chief engineer of the Old Sun- 
bury and Erie Railroad's report at Bishop's Summit, 
being 675.671 feet above the mouth of Potato Creek, 
632.699 feet above mouth of Marvin Creek and as 
Smethport is 1480 feet above tidewater at Chesapeake 
Bay, Clermont will be about 2100 feet above sea level. 

In 1813, the only persons remaining at Instantar, so 
far as I can learn, were Judge Joel Bishop, a Mr. 
Sweeten, David Comes, a Mr. Marvin and perhaps 
Job Gifford (Gifford, Comes and Sweeten soon after 
got tired as they said of the woods, and moved to Po- 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 129 

tato Creek). On the 10th of September, 1813, was 
fought that memorable naval battle on Lake Erie 
called Perry's Victory and on that day those persons 
then at Instantar distinctly heard the firing of the 
cannon and cannonading during the engagement (the 
cannonading being also heard at Ceres in this county) ; 
and it may be safely predicted that on or before the 
first of July, 1875, a telegram may be sent from Cler- 
mont via the McKean & Buffalo Railroad telegraph to 
the city of Buffalo announcing that the last rail had 
been laid and the last spike driven as the completion 
of that road, in less time than was the sound of the 
cannonading of the battle conveyed by the wave-like 
undulations of the air from one point to the other in 
1813. 



AGRICULTUEAL ADDRESS 

THE subject of agriculture is not one allowing a 
display of oratory. To produce an oratorical 
effect, it is necessary to dwell on the scenes, the inci- 
dents, the hopes, the fears, the passions and emotions 
of the human heart, the workings of the soul. The 
orator's field is one of the great fields in human 
nature — the study of men as individuals and as mem- 
bers of the society in which they live, in their relations 
one to another or of one to all of their fellow beings is 
peculiarly the field of the elocutionist. When the 
orator waves his magic wand and touches the mighty 
springs of the human heart by arousing its sym- 
pathies, by raising the just indignation of the honest 
mind against him who commits a crime or in favor of 
one who is an innocent sufferer by the commission of 
that crime by his fellow; when any emotion of the 
human heart is described with intensity of feeling by 
the poetic imagery of an exuberant imagination, then 
it is that the soul of the listener becomes enraptured 
and lost in amazement by the power of the " art 
divine." But when the orator attempts to describe 
the excellence of a stump machine, it would have been 
difficult even for a Cicero to have been eloquent. 
Nevertheless, the science or art of agriculture is of 
greater value to the human family than the soul-stir- 
ring art of rhetoric. 

Perhaps there is no stronger illustration of the 

130 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 131 

influence of intellect than in exhibitions showing the 
power of mind over mere matter and it is with the ele- 
ments of material nature that the agriculturalist, the 
farmer, has to contend. The power of mind over 
material nature is at once seen by a glance at the 
canal constructed by the herculean toil and engineered 
by the human skill that forms an artificial water- 
course so admirably serving the purposes of internal 
navigation between cities and countries hundreds of 
miles asunder. By a glance at our railroads con- 
structed by the labor and the toil of thousands of 
men and forming when finished one of the most gigan- 
tic systems of transportation both for travelers and 
for merchandise that the human imagination can pos- 
sibly conceive of, as well as by a glance at those monu- 
ments of labor and skill exhibited by the erection of 
those stupendous bridges which span the mighty 
rivers of our country, these all show the wonderful 
powers of mind over the material world with which 
the wants, the interests, the necessities of men bring 
them in contact. 

The business of the farmer is culture ; for while the 
poet cultivates his imagination, the painter the genius 
of his art, and the scholar his mental powers, the far- 
mer may and should cultivate his mind, but he must 
cultivate the soil. It is clearly a wise dispensation of 
Divine Providence that man is destined to labor, to 
gain his bread by the sweat of his brow. In other 
words, he must labor in some one way or another. 
Every man who gains a comfortable and respectable 
livelihood must labor. If he does not work with his 
hands, he must work with his head. The mechanic 
toils in his workshop. The merchant at his counter, 



132 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

the physician labors for his patients and the lawyer 
for his clients. Of the two kinds of labor, brain work 
is much more wearing to the human constitution than 
labor of the hands. So far, therefore, as longevity 
and health are concerned, the farmer has greatly the 
advantage. I have always thought that agreeable and 
profitable employment of our time bestows more hap- 
piness than can possibly be found in any other mode 
by which we are capable of passing away our human 
existence. When a man spends the day in idleness 
at night he feels a vacuity of existence that he has 
lived that day for naught, that the day of life with 
him has been a blank, a worthless nothing; while a 
day spent in useful employment carries with it the 
happy consciousness of having done one's duty. Then 
balmy slumber rests on his eyelids when the shadows 
of night encircle him, he sleeps the calm sleep of child- 
hood and at morning awakes renewed in vigor and 
comparatively happy. I hold it as an axiom that 
agreeable and useful employment is one of the richest 
and choicest of human blessings. The peculiar em- 
ployment of the farmer is cultivation, but he is not a 
mere working drudge, a bare physical automaton, for 
he has to deal with the laws of nature, the philosophy 
of the production and growth of vegetation. This 
calls into requisition the fullest action of both his 
physical as well as mental powers than which there 
is no greater, more intricate or agreeable occupation 
of subject for profitable and pleasing thought. Let 
us refer for a moment to a few of the results of this 
kind of cultivation. The potato was in its original 
and wild state a small bitter root found in South 
America, but by cultivation it has become one of the 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 133 

most useful as well as agreeable of essentials and now 
contributes nearly as much toward the support of the 
human family as bread, the " staff of life." All the 
varieties of the luscious and almost indispensable 
fruit, the apple, originated from the common crab 
apple which grows wild and almost worthless in its 
native state all over the country. The peach was 
originally a small, bitter, and poisonous fruit found 
in Persia, but by continuous cultivation has become 
one of the most desirable luxuries in the way of fruit 
known to exist. We may add to this the wonderful 
changes produced by the horticulturist, the orchardist 
and the florist by inoculation, by grafting and other 
processes in almost endless variety of fruits, shrubs 
and plants, by which the original is changed and im- 
proved from its native state to a condition of surpris- 
ing excellence. In short, everything submitted to 
cultivation has vastly improved by the process. 

Cultivation to the farmer is like cultivation in any 
other department in life. It always produces a 
change and that change for the better. Experimental 
cultivation to the farmer is what practical analysis, 
decomposition and re-formation is to the chemist. 
The farmer's fields are his laboratory and his agri- 
cultural implements are his chemical apparatus, 
nature is the great alchemist that by care, industry 
and proper culture turns all the products of his fields 
into gold. Nearly all the improvements in agricul- 
ture, as in everything else, are the result of experi- 
ment. Few things of that sort come by chance. The 
farmer who has found by experiment a new and useful 
mode of cultivation is as much a discoverer as was 
Fulton, who made the first successful application of 



134 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

steam power, and is as much entitled to commenda- 
tion and the gratitude of his fellowmen. Fruits, flow- 
ers and grains are all the production of the great 
chemist Nature and the great chemical agents which 
produce these results are the common elements of the 
soil with its various components aided by water, air 
and light or heat. It is not, however, necessary for 
the successful farmer to be a scientific chemist, though 
he may be, and is, a practical one. The most useful 
scientific work he needs to consult is his own observa- 
tion and experience and the observations and experi- 
ences of others. 

The successful practical farmer should well consult 
and understand the peculiar character, if not the 
chemical analysis, of every field of his farm, because 
different plants, grains and grasses require different 
qualities of soil as well as climate and culture; for, 
while it would be folly for a farmer or gardener to 
attempt to raise a pineapple in McKean County, yet 
he may raise a very excellent turnip or a sweet and 
nutritious beet. Is his soil too wet, it must be 
drained. Is it too sandy, it should be mixed with 
clay. Is it too clayey, it should be mixed with sand. 
Is it too poor for crops, it must be manured in the 
manner adapted to the kind of crops to be raised. 
This and many other subjects of a kindred nature 
occupy the constant attention of the successful 
farmer. He should always adapt the kind of crop to 
be raised to the character of the soil he uses to pro- 
duce it, taking into consideration the climate in which 
he lives. If he expects to prosper it would be inju- 
dicious to waste his time and money in trying to pro- 
duce the kind of crops which by nature will not 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 135 

prosper in the kind of soil which he has to cultivate 
or climate where he resides. He should fully ascer- 
tain the peculiar qualities or compositions of his soil 
and study to correct its deficiencies. If the soil is 
too poor to produce crops it must be manured in some 
way ; if it is deficient in alkalies, he should use lime, 
bone dust or wood ashes; if it requires barely reno- 
vating, brought back from its worn-out condition, the 
cheapest way to obtain a fertilizer will be to turn 
under a crop of clover and let it lie for a season, if 
need be. In this county, I have no doubt but clover 
or an old green sward turned over well by careful 
plowing is the cheapest fertilizer to be obtained. In 
respect to a clover or grass crop fertilizer, our soil 
gives a decided advantage over the soils of the Eastern 
States. Their worn-out, sandy lands will not pro- 
duce clover or grass. Hence, as they have no fer- 
tilizer but manure, of which they can never obtain an 
adequate supply, hundreds and thousands of acres 
now lay a waste, level plains grown up to white birch 
and other noxious bushes; while in McKean County 
grass never fails. Indeed, if the hardpan (a species 
of hard clay with dry hard loam and which is so hard 
as to require a sharp pick axe to break it with, and is 
nearly impervious to water) is thrown out from a 
cellar six feet deep and exposed to the rays of the sun 
and the open air for a season, grass will naturally 
come in and cover the surface the following season. 
Therefore, we see that our lands contain within them- 
selves the prolific means of their own fertilization and 
restoration. 

I do not pretend to the knowledge necessary to 
instruct farmers in the best mode of cultivation. My 



136 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

life has been spent in the study of other subjects and 
in the pursuit of other objects, but I have been some- 
what of an observer and have always been fond of 
agriculture as one of the most valuable branches of 
human industry. I will give you a few of the obser- 
vations which I have made. You will think of them 
as you may please. 

It seems to me that more time and money should be 
bestowed on less land by one farmer. In other words, 
they would do better by cultivating less land and be- 
stowing more attention to what they do cultivate. 
This remark does not apply to this county alone but 
to almost every part of the United States. Lands in 
this county and the States generally are comparatively 
cheap. A man who owns ten acres of land in Eng- 
land, France or Germany is comparatively rich, while 
a man in this country who does not own at least one 
hundred acres thinks himself comparatively a small 
farmer, but the English farmer gets more crops from 
his ten acres than we do from fifty. He does it by a 
system of high cultivation, rich cultivation, thorough 
cultivation, judging from those fields which I have 
seen in this county brought under a state of high cul- 
tivation. I have no doubt that a farmer could well 
support an ordinary sized family (with the exception 
of bread stuff) from the products of two acres of land 
and that from ten acres of land thoroughly tilled and 
highly cultivated, he might support such a family 
well and lay up something besides. By this means he 
would have less taxes to pay, have less fences to keep 
up, less ground to travel over, less capital to invest 
in the purchase of land and lose the interest thereon. 
When the ground is once put in order, it requires 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 137 

less amount of actual labor to provide for, and above 
all, he would have the cheering satisfaction of seeing 
his crops look prosperous and well, which would al- 
ways stimulate him to renewed exertion and further 
improvement. Whereas the farmer whose lands are 
badly cultivated has never a prosperous crop and con- 
sequently is always discouraged. I think it might 
safely be laid down as an axiom or self-evident truth, 
that American farmers cultivate too much land in 
proportion to the amount of labor and means for im- 
provement bestowed upon it. If they would till a less 
number of acres and do it better, they would raise 
more bushels of grain and tons of hay than they do 
now. 

I apprehend that the true interest of the McKean 
County farmer is to turn his attention mostly to cat- 
tle growing and dairying. It is evident that this 
county can most profitably be used as a grazing 
country. The grasses seem indigenous and the nat- 
ural product of our soil, and when nature so clearly 
indicates the character of her soil, it would be unwise 
not to profit by her example. It would seem to be 
folly to devote a farm to raising the cereals, winter 
wheat and rye when nature has so designated the soil 
and climate that they are quite uncertain crops, while 
grass comparatively speaking will give an almost cer- 
tain fair return for the farmer's labour. Probably 
no part of the Middle or Northern States produce 
better cattle or sheep than this, while as a wheat grow- 
ing country we are confessedly deficient. Let our 
farmers adopt then the guide, the rule that nature 
plainly indicates, for while we are all sure that cattle 
and sheep growing can be made remunerative and 



138 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

profitable, we also know that there is much greater 
uncertainty in cultivating winter grains. 

This country is pretty well stocked with good 
breeds of cattle and sheep now, but we are deficient 
in grass culture, for while our meadows give little 
more as an average than a ton of hay to the acre, 
other countries not more favorably situated than ours 
yield as an average two to four tons per acre. In Eng- 
land where from the enormous price at which lands 
are held, they are cultivated to their utmost capacity. 
I am told by credible authority that four tons is but 
an average crop of hay per acre. I know that many 
farmers in the United States produce nearly if not 
quite as great an average hay crop, but our farmers, 
as I believe, fall much short of it. I think the better 
cultivation of their meadow lands is one of the most 
important objects to which the farmers of this county 
should turn their attention. Better drainage would 
be one mode of improvement, frequently turning the 
green sward under and thus refertilizing the ground. 

Undoubtedly, there is as good butter and cheese 
made by the people here as is made anywhere in the 
United States under like circumstances, but I appre- 
hend there is not the same pains taken here as a 
general rule as is taken in Orange and Duchess Coun- 
ties, New York, and in Chester and Delaware Coun- 
ties, Pennsylvania, which counties have attained an 
enviable reputation for dairying. In this department 
of industry, although we do pretty well now, yet there 
is undoubtedly room to do better by practicing and 
experimenting upon the alleged improvements made 
in the older parts of our county. I see no reason to 
prevent our dairymen and women if they would prac- 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 139 

tice the same rules and observances the dairy people 
of the counties to which I have referred constantly 
attend to, from making butter that would sell at New 
York at twenty -five to forty cents a pound, as well as 
to get but twelve and one-half to twenty cents per 
pound for it, as they now do. Introduce the same 
improvements and you will find the same gratifying 
results. 

The peculiar formation of the lands in this part of 
the country requires much attention to artificial 
drainage. The soil of all our lands except the flats 
along the streams rests on a substratum formation 
of hard pan which lies from two to three feet below 
the surface of the soil. This hard pan being nearly 
impervious to water, the rains that fall upon the sur- 
face of the soil saturate that soil and then, as it were, 
rest upon the hard pan as water would rest upon the 
metallic roof of a house. Our common soil, being a 
fine loam, slightly clayey in its texture, becomes fully 
saturated with water as a sponge would saturate if 
fully wet. Hence the necessity of thorough drainage 
which can only be done by cutting the drains below 
the loamy soil and far enough into the hard pan to 
make a trough for the water. This may be done by 
various methods of which the farmer's own experience 
will make him the best judge. 

Surface water from a sudden shower of rain can 
only be controlled by open surface drains, while the 
intermediate ground used for cultivation should al- 
ways be treated by covered drainage, by plank set up 
edgewise in the form of a house roof, by flat stone put 
up in the same manner or a ditch filled with loose 
cobblestones and all covered one to two feet deep. 



140 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

The good effect produced upon our soils by this kind 
of drainage is surprising. I know a garden in this 
borough that year before last was nearly worthless 
from its constant wetness. Last year it was aban- 
doned from that cause. This year it was thoroughly 
drained in the manner before stated and this season 
it is among the most flourishing, if not the best, gar- 
den in the neighborhood. I have no doubt but that 
our meadows should be subsoil drained as well as our 
plow lands. Every one must have observed the good 
effect of draining swamps in this county. The late 
Mr. Marsh of Nunundah Creek was the first success- 
ful experimenter in this way. He, by drainage, soon 
brought one of the apparently most worthless fields 
of swamp land to become what it ever since has been, 
one of the most productive fields of plow land or 
grass land to be found in that neighborhood. Since 
that experiment made some fifteen or twenty years 
ago, very many have profitably followed his example. 
With these evidences before him, is it not the duty of 
the farmer to turn his attention more to this impor- 
tant method of agricultural improvement? 

I wish now to say a few words about shade trees, 
and I doubt not but that some of my friends who know 
me best will give a twinkle of their eyes and curve a 
smile on their lips while they say to themselves, " This 
is his old hobby." I acknowledge the corn, or to use 
a more classic quotation, I " own the soft impeach- 
ment " that I now and ever had a fondness for shade 
trees. I frankly admit it does not amount to a pas- 
sion with me but it is an unyielding fondness of which 
I am not ashamed. 

That the people of this county have paid a commen- 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 141 

dable attention to the planting and cultivation of 
fruit trees I assert with pleasure, but there still is in 
my judgment a want of ornamental shade trees. 
Apart from their ornamental value, look for a moment 
at the subject of usefulness. 

According to well accredited statements of observ- 
ing travelers, we may never look for an abundant 
supply of living water without the presence of forest 
trees. Recent travelers in Syria, in Palestine, in 
Egypt and in ancient Greece prove incontestably that 
the removal of the forest timber in those once favored 
lands has caused an almost entire failure of living 
water. In Palestine, streams of water clearly marked 
out by Biblical history are now dried up and gone. 
The hillsides being completely denuded of forest 
trees, the little water now found in the shrunken rivu- 
lets is so bad as to be totally unfit to slake the thirst 
of the weary traveler. Indeed, they dare not drink 
it, but are obliged to supply themselves with wine 
instead or suffer themselves to be parched with thirst. 
The same thing has been observed in some parts of 
Italy where the hillsides have been stripped of timber, 
though what water they have is not so bad. And now 
the once fairy land of Greece, the land of " Priam and 
of song," owes much of its present barrenness and 
desolate appearance to the destruction of their forests. 
This evil can only be arrested by restoring the hill- 
sides and mountain forests to their primeval condi- 
tion. Even in " Young America " it has been well 
attested that many springs, small rivulets and ponds 
have of late years totally failed and disappeared, 
from the cause which I have referred to. It is a com- 
mon observation in the United States that as the 



142 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

country grows older, the streams of water lessen in 
magnitude. This evil should be arrested before it is 
too late. Every farmer who has a spring of living 
water should plant a few forest trees about it and 
carefully preserve them. He could hardly render 
a greater benefit to posterity. Add to this, he should 
plant a few shade trees in each of his pastures. They 
would be a mercy to his cattle — " a merciful man is 
merciful to his beast. " Shade trees planted along 
each side of the public highways are also greatly or- 
namental to the farm of the man who plants them and 
very grateful to the sunburnt traveler who passes 
that way. During the late Italian war, the French 
troops traveling through the plains of Lombardy 
found themselves protected from the scorching rays 
of an Italian sun by a thick growth of forest shade 
trees each side of the road, which they found to extend 
for miles and miles on their way to the famous bat- 
tles of Montebello, Magenta and Selfinno, and doubt- 
less many a blessing was silently called by the weary 
soldiers upon the heads of those philanthropic peas- 
ants and farmers who had so considerately made a 
panoply of shade under which the soldiery marched 
to those splendid victories gained in defense of human 
liberty. 

Where can the painter be found so silly as to paint 
a landscape without dotting it with the foliage of 
shrubbery and forest trees? Without them, the pic- 
ture would not be worth a look; from the cedar of 
Lebanon that towers on the hillsides of Judea to the 
hawthorn that nestles in the bosom of the valley, there 
is no effect which is exhibited in nature, no clothing 
in which she is ever dressed, so lovely as the foliage of 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 143 

the forests. Allow me a slight digression while I ask, 
Is it not a subject of deep regret that the Courts of 
Justice have been administered at this place for 
thirty-three years and yet our public squares, the 
Court House and Academy Square are yet unorna- 
mented by a single thrifty shade tree? If no one else 
regrets this want of improvement in our town, I do. 
In this country as well as others, there are many trees 
of historic interest, the celebrated mulberry tree 
planted by the hands of the immortal bard William 
Shakespeare in his garden at Stratford-upon-Avon, 
and ruthlessly destroyed by a subsequent purchaser. 
In this country, the venerable Stuyvesant pear tree at 
New York, now living and in a bearing condition at 
over a hundred years of age, in Pennsylvania, the 
Harris poplar, standing on the banks of the Susque- 
hanna at Harrisburgh, which saved the life of Mr. 
Harris, the founder of our state capital, by spending 
a night in the top of the tree to protect himself from 
the fury of his Indian pursuers. The trees near 
Jamestown, Virginia, to which the valiant Captain 
Smith was tied to be shot by the arrows of the Indians, 
reprieved an hour, and again sentenced and finally 
rescued by the heroic Pocahontas, which tree was re- 
cently standing ; in Connecticut, the old " charter 
oak " at Hartford in the hollow of which in the year 
1682, near two hundred years ago, the colonies' char- 
ter from King Charles the Second was hid to prevent 
its being surrendered to the British Crown; the old 
" Treaty Elm " at Kensington, Philadelphia, under 
the shadow of which William Penn near two centuries 
ago concluded his friendly treaty with the Indians. 
These two last mentioned trees have been prostrated 



144 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

to the ground by winds and thus lost within the past 
ten years; and lastly, but more to me than all, that 
old oak tree immortalized by our gifted countryman, 
General George P. Morris, now standing near New 
York, of which he so beautifully and feelingly says: 

" Woodman, spare that tree, 
Touch not a single bough; 
In childhood it protected me, 
And I'll protect it now. 
'Twas my forefather's hand 
That planted it near his cot, 
Where, woodman, let it stand, 
Thine axe shall harm it not." 

I close this subject by descending from larger inci- 
dents to a trifle. Just thirty years ago I planted with 
my own hands a hickory tree at the end of a row of 
other shade trees at the southwest corner of the square 
on which I reside in commemoration, as I then said, of 
General Jackson's (Old Hickory) first inauguration 
to the presidency. This tree may withstand the buf- 
fetings of time and yet be seen by future generations 
long after the hands which planted it shall have been 
moldering in the dust. Plant trees when you are 
young and they will be your most familiar friends, the 
friends of your youth, as it were your children, when 
you have grown old yourselves. 

I conclude this address by a few remarks as to the 
occupation of the farmer. Men in their original or 
what is sometimes called normal state, supported 
themselves mainly by hunting and keeping of cattle. 
They were either huntsmen or herdsmen. Such is 
the early history of the people of all nations. This 
was in time found to be a very precarious mode of 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 145 

providing a livelihood. Gradually and often after the 
lapse of many centuries agriculture was begun in a 
most rude and clumsy manner; but, poor as it was, 
it was found far better than the uncertain pursuits 
of the chase, and when improvement once began in 
the condition of the human race, progress was then, 
as now, the happy result. Instead of the nomadic, 
wandering life led by the hunter and the shepherd, 
men fixed to themselves " local habitations " and had 
a home. Towns were reared and cities built. Soon 
followed in the wake of improvement, commerce 
among different nations, than which perhaps there 
is no greater civilizer ; a free interchange of the knowl- 
edge of different customs, habits and improvements 
spread with the rapidity of a contagion. Man is 
always awake to his own interests and always seeks 
to profit by what he has seen or knows that is new 
to him. The consequence of all this has been that 
our race when civilization once began, has continued 
to improve in civilization itself, in science, in the arts 
and in agriculture until now in the nineteenth cen- 
tury, wonders accomplished in each of those depart- 
ments have ceased to be looked upon as marvelous 
and there would seem to be no limit to human inge- 
nuity, power and sagacity. Resorting to and im- 
provements in the art of agriculture were the first 
great strides taken by our early progenitors in the 
great highway of civilization. 

The occupation of the agriculturist has ever been 
and ever will be honorable and useful. Destitution 
in classes of men is always ill received and unpleasant. 
To make no such distinction and to place all upon 
one common platform, the farmer has many great 



146 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

advantages. He raises within his own means from 
the growth of his own farm, the means of support 
for himself and family. He is never dependent for 
his bread or his clothing, for he can, if he chooses, 
produce both from the tillage of his fields and the 
use of his flocks. He has no taskmaster to oversee 
him at his work and is not dependent upon the patron- 
age of the manufacturer or the capitalist, but is really 
as independent as man in his relations to society can 
be. This independence he feels and appreciates. 
He feels his position in society, for he is independent 
in all his opinions, moral, political and religious. 
He lives amongst what is called a rural population, 
himself and his family are uncontaminated by the 
vices attendant on life in a great city. His son is 
never tempted by the blandishments of the gilded and 
painted courtesan, nor is his daughter subject to an- 
noyance from the flippant, dandy fop that twirls his 
mustache and flourishes his cane along the thorough- 
fares of our cities. In short, himself, his wife and 
his family are removed from the temptations of vice 
and luxury to be found in the more refined but less 
virtuous denizens of a more compact population. 

In this country the practice of agriculture has 
ever been esteemed as honorable and now by the in- 
troduction of improved implements and machines, the 
farmer may lessen the time required to be bestowed 
on his farm and make profitable use of that time 
which can thus be saved, to the cultivation of his 
mind, and make himself not only a useful but an in- 
telligent citizen and an estimable member of society. 

Does he emulate the examples of great men? Re- 
member Washington doffed the honors of the greatest 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 147 

office in the gift of his countrymen and returned to 
the shades of Mount Vernon, looking upon his retire- 
ment as the happiest period of his life; the greatest 
of America's orators and statesmen, Daniel Webster, 
sought relief from the cares of public life in the shades 
of Marshfield, as did Henry Clay at his home at Ash- 
land and General Jackson, " the last of the Romans," 
at the Hermitage. With these inducements before 
you, engrave the motto of your country upon your 
escutcheon, " virtue, liberty and independence," and 
let your own motto ever be, " I am bound to excel." 



Ill 

ATTITUDE TOWARD PUBLIC 
QUESTIONS 



OUR DUTY 

FOURTH OF JULY ADDRESS — YEAR 1829 

A FEW remarks which occur to me to make, from 
a brief consideration of these two short and 
simple words, will form the entire subject of my dis- 
course on the present occasion. 

OUR DUTY TO OUR. CREATOR GOD 

To Him we owe the gift of life with all its surround- 
ings, its beauties and its blessings, which He has so 
liberally scattered along that path which an inscrut- 
able destiny has marked for us to follow from the 
cradle of infancy to the stalwart form of manhood, 
and from the vigor of manhood to declining age ; and 
more than all for the hope of a glorious immortality. 

OUR DUTY TO OURSELVES, OUR PARENTS AND OUR OFF- 
SPRING 

The life of man in a civilized state practically con- 
sists in a perpetual series of duties, the performance 
of which must necessarily occupy his attention from 
the beginning to the conclusion of his eventful life. 
The life of every human being is a history and though 
it may not be written in a book, neither chronicled 
in prose or rhyme, nor sung by the wandering harper, 
nor emblazoned in the page of biography, yet, when 
the individual's life has closed by drawing around 
him the oblivious curtain of death, the drama of his 

151 



152 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

life, his history, has been written either in the sands 
along the shore of the ocean of time, to be washed out 
by the next succeeding wave of that ceaseless ocean, 
or it has been recorded upon the memories of the 
present and succeeding generations or in books which 
may immortalize the deeds of the hero it commemo- 
rates. 

It is, therefore, an unquestionable truth that it is 
the first and highest duty of each individual to see 
that his or her history is without a blemish; that it 
is unspotted by a crime, unpolluted by a vice, un cor- 
rupted even by a taint of conscience. 

Doubtless, the first great duty of man to himself is 
that which is indicated by nature's unerring guide, 
the universal law of self-preservation; but life alone, 
great a boon as it is, is comparatively worthless of 
preservation unless with it is also preserved those 
priceless moral principles which can alone make it 
desirable or worthy of the ultimate destiny which 
God has ordained for us. We must also preserve the 
unalterable principles of liberty, justice and honor, 
pure and immaculate as they were graciously be- 
stowed by our Maker's hand, for without these adorn- 
ments life alone is worse than useless. Man, so to 
speak, is an intellectual animal, and by the laws of 
nature his material being must soon become a mass of 
corruption, but he has a Godlike power within him, 
an almost illimitable intellect and the sure, unerring 
guide of conscience. By the proper exercise of these 
faculties he is truly the sublimity of all earthly 
created things. Without them he is but the degra- 
dation of a brute, with naught but animal instinct and 
animal passions for his aim and guide. He lives and 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 153 

perishes as the grass that is trodden under our feet, 
but if his intellect is well preserved and imbued with 
that energy of life and action which is the great first 
object of his being, if that whole being is ever alive 
to the dictates of his honor, and his feet, guided by an 
unsullied conscience, follow in the path of virtue, 
himself and his deeds are eternalized. In short, as 
early in the journey of life as his mind becomes im- 
bued with the faculties of reason and reflection, he 
must resolve with Roman fortitude and sternness that 
in every position in which his future destiny shall 
place him, fearlessly and faithfully to do his duty. 

So should woman, the fairest and most angelic be- 
ing that treads the flowery paths of earth, when she 
first buds from childhood's innocence into the graces 
of beauty, womanhood and intellect, fix in her mind 
the stern resolve, that she will preserve her honor 
immaculate even at the cost of her own life or that of 
another who seeks its violation. I hesitate not to 
say that were I a judge or a juror, I would justify any 
virtuous woman who would stab the villain to the 
heart with the poniard held in her good right hand, 
who should wantonly attempt to violate her chastity. 
Her saved honor is of greater value to her than her 
life without it, and death is but the just penalty for 
such a robbery. Woman as well as man should do 
her duty. 

The duty we owe to our parents is as sacred as any 
of the domestic or social obligations. To their pro- 
tecting guidance, their ever-vigilant watchfulness, 
their never-wearied devotion, we are indebted for our 
physical, mental and moral growth and development 
from helpless infancy to that period of our lives which 



154 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

nature's laws have assigned for self-reliance and in- 
dependent man and womanhood. Nature has im- 
printed one of the most beautiful of her laws deeply 
in the hearts of parents. The father never forgets 
his offspring nor does the mother forget her child. 
Whatever the lot of that child, whether in sickness or 
health, in beauty or in deformity, instinctive love and 
parental affection never waver in their duty in pro- 
tecting, providing for and guiding the wandering 
steps of wayward youth. If pillowed on a bed of suf- 
fering, the parent watches that suffering child and 
does all for it humanity can suggest. If even steeped 
in crime, the parent will seek it out in the dungeon's 
repulsive cells. In no condition of life is it either 
neglected or forgotten. The parent mourns with his 
child in its sorrows and rejoices in its prosperity. 
Really, the offspring seems a part and parcel of the 
parents' very being. Such is nature's unerring law 
of sympathy and affection. How much then should 
we reciprocate this parental kindness? The unques- 
tionable duty of the child is to obey in its youth, and 
love, respect and venerate the parents in their declin- 
ing age ; and let the child always reflect that the very 
same sentiments of regard shown by him to his own 
parents he may in turn expect will be returned to him 
when he too, shall have become a parent. " By the 
same measure you mete to others, it shall be meted 
unto you." Let him carry out the sentiment so simply 
and yet so beautifully expressed in the song of 
" Woodman, Spare That Tree," 

" In childhood you protected me, 
And I'll protect you now." 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 155 

The duty parents owe their children is the most 
responsible of all the domestic relations, for upon the 
right performance of that duty mainly rests the future 
success and prosperity, the future destiny of that 
child, but upon that structure also mainly depends 
the condition for good or for evil of the whole succeed- 
ing generation. As you rear a plant so it will grow, 
as you train a child so will he either grow in respect- 
ability and usefulness or sink into the rubbish of pau- 
perism and end in degradation. In such training, ex- 
ample is better than precept. One right example 
given in childhood is better than a hundred moral 
lectures given after the child has formed his habits. 
You cannot bend the gnarled oak, but could easily 
have bent it while it was a twig. 

Give the child employment in the right direction, 
with proper incentives to virtue and honorable am- 
bition, and he has an inheritance better than refined 
gold or than rubies or diamonds. Industry, virtue 
and honor are the gold, the ruby and the diamond 
that most gracefully and usefully embellish the hu- 
man being. They are ornaments which will never 
dim or tarnish, for they will shine with renewed bril- 
liance in that spirit land to which we all look as the 
ultimatum of human happiness. 

This, however, the anniversary of our American 
liberties is not the proper occasion for the thorough 
discussion of the subjects of our personal and our 
social duties. Better fitting the time and the occa- 
sion is the consideration of our political duties, and I, 
therefore, proceed to the subject of our duties to each 
other as members of the society in which we live. In 
all ages of the world, governments of some kind have 



156 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

been found necessary. If mankind were perfect, 
governments would be unnecessary, because every 
man's well regulated, pure and perfect mind would be 
a law unto himself and he would need no restraint 
by law but his own sense of justice. Such, however, 
we all know is not the happy lot of the human family, 
and in organized, civilized society, to use the senti- 
ment of one of our greatest English law writers, each 
individual in society must give up so much of his 
natural liberty and submit to restraint so far and no 
farther than is necessary for the good of society at 
large in which he lives. This must necessarily be so 
because the wanton, unrestrained liberty of one man 
might be the perfection of natural liberty to him, 
but it would be absolute despotic tyranny over all 
others upon whom his unrestrained action was al- 
lowed control. It would be the liberty of a tiger 
rather than that of a rational being. Hence, flows 
the necessity of rules of civil conduct, called laws 
among men. It is curious to contrast the difference 
in the machinery of government among men in their 
simple, natural or normal state and that of any single 
political state in our confederacy. In the natural 
state, governments were simply of families, not of 
cities, States or nations. In this natural state the 
" pater familias," the father, the patriarch, was the 
lawmaker, the court, the jury and the executive. The 
family was and yet is governed without a written code 
or even a written rule. Simply the will of the patri- 
arch was the law of his household and, what would 
not be tolerated as a rule or law of society, he often 
determined the kind and amount of punishment after 
the offense had been committed, what we now call 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 157 

" ex post facto," and such was his instinctive sense of 
justice that he seldom erred. Contrast this simple 
arrangement with the written or statute laws of Penn- 
sylvania alone and we find more than a thousand 
pages of closely printed matter, forming probably 
four thousand rules or more for the legal guidance 
of the political members of a single State. Add to 
these near a hundred volumes of our Supreme Court 
Reports, applying, explaining and construing those 
statutes or rules of property and action, and we see 
the vast difference between men in their natural and 
primitive state and man as a member of society. And 
yet it seems that all this complex machinery of law is 
necessary to secure men in their rights and restrain 
them within their appropriate limits in a state of 
civilization. 

If all this is necessary, it follows that it is the first 
great and paramount duty of the citizen to submit to 
and sustain those laws which are the sole foundation 
of the whole political fabric, because without the en- 
forcement of law and order, civilized society could 
not exist. 

And why is it that our rights and duties as members 
of civilized society need such a vast number of writ- 
ten rules for their guidance and so many severe penal 
enactments as restraints upon our natural liberty, 
as free and independent beings who, in a state of na- 
ture, are accountable only to their Creator? Why 
not allow every human being to pursue his own true 
and substantial happiness in his own way, untram- 
meled by restraint of law? And why does man in the 
might of his physical prowess submit to such re- 
straint? Why does he yield submission to the laws 



158 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

of the land? Is it because he loves to inculcate, to 
patronize and sustain the great principle of universal 
philanthropy? Has he such unbounded love for his 
fellow mortals that all this is done because of the 
great good to the largest number of his fellows, be- 
cause he knows by submitting to those restraints of 
civilization he will best accomplish the general good 
of the human family? No, not that alone. His sub- 
mission springs from a source far less pure and exalt- 
ing to human nature. It comes from no other source 
than pure selfish self-love. 

Intellectual man is a reflecting being. When he 
surveys the scene of man's relation to his fellow man, 
he sees that though independent in and of himself, 
yet, as a member of society, he is entirely dependent 
on the will of those by whom he is surrounded for the 
protection of his life, his reputation and his property. 
If he is of manly frame and herculean strength, re- 
flection teaches him that, though he has strength 
enough to grapple with and conquer any other single 
man in the circle of his acquaintance, yet should he 
be compelled to come in contact with a superior force, 
he must yield vanquished. A small number of those 
to whom he is individually superior in strength, when 
combined, would inevitably overpower even his giant 
strength. He then sees that even he, the strongest 
of the strong, needs protection; yes, the protecting 
shield, the cordon of law which society has imposed 
not for the whole alone but for each as an individual. 
Well he knows that the same laws necessary to pro- 
tect the helpless maiden against the lawless violence 
of brazen impudence, that protect the lame, the in- 
valid and tottering age, are equally necessary to pro- 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 159 

tect the strong man in all the glory of his power. He, 
therefore, finds it his unquestioned interest, his dire 
necessity to submit to be restrained by those very laws 
which he knows not how soon he may need for his 
own defense. If, then, his own self-love, his own self- 
interest, so clearly prompt him to submit to legal re- 
straint, with equal if not greater force comes in his 
duty to those every way his peers by nature, in carry- 
ing out the golden rule of " doing to others as you 
would that they should do to you." 

What though those laws may not for the time being 
be administered by just the kind of man or men he 
might desire, though they may not be of the highest 
order of intellect or possess the highest standard of 
moral excellence, yet the laws and the position of 
those who administer them should ever be respected ; 
although we may not like the man, yet we should re- 
spect the judge, if not for himself, for the sake of the 
majesty of the law with which he is clothed. It is 
said to be a political maxim that even tryanny is 
better than no government at all ; and surely the laws 
sometimes ill administered are better to be observed 
than the lawless violence resulting from the unchained 
passions or infuriated zeal of a licensed mob. If a 
law is impolitic or obnoxious, seek the constitutional 
mode for its change or repeal, but submit to its enact- 
ment and sustain those who administer it while in 
force. Sustain them as our first great duty to society, 
for this is the clearly marked destiny, hoping for a dif- 
ference between the civilized, Christianized and refined 
condition of a law-abiding people and the savage who 
knows no restraint to his lust or his passions but base 
preponderating physical force. Sustain them for the 



160 LIFE AND WOKKS OF 

love you bear to your parents and your children, 
your neighbor and your friend. Sustain them for 
your own self-love and for the love of the human 
race. Sustain them because our civilized nature 
teaches it and God ordains it. 

The universe itself is sustained by laws, the laws 
of attraction, gravitation and motion, rules formed 
and devised by the Great Architect himself, as un- 
changeable and as perfect as the Deity is immutable 
and perfect. 

Let us then follow his example in submitting to 
and sustaining that system of laws which we believe 
to be best adapted to our condition. Let us obey 
them ourselves and lend our aid in seeing that others 
obey them. 

A once celebrated citizen of Greece proposed and 
procured to be enacted a law at Athens that any one 
who wore offensive armor or weapons at the meeting 
of the citizens when they convened to enact laws or 
consult for the public good, should suffer the penalty 
of death. This was to the end to avoid intimidation 
and that the people might act freely and indepen- 
dently in casting their votes for the public weal. On 
one occasion the people were suddenly summoned to 
assemble for a public purpose and the citizen who had 
proposed the law about carrying weapons forgot him- 
self and was seen at the assemblage with his sword 
by his side. A fellow citizen upbraided him for it. 
He at once saw his mistake and drawing his sword 
said, " I see I have violated a law of my own propos- 
ing but I will show you that I have courage enough 
to be its avenger." He then plunged his sword into 
his own body and expired. 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 161 

But it is not necessary for us to sustain our laws 
at so great a sacrifice. We need to exercise but that 
moral firmness which belongs to every self-relying 
American citizen and our social system will be main- 
tained. For upon that depends our safety, our 
happiness as a people and our prosperity as a na- 
tion. 

Books of mythology inform us that Prometheus to 
gratify his ambition stole fire from heaven, which act 
of profanation so incensed the gods that they con- 
demned him to be chained to a rock surrounded by vul- 
tures which should incessantly prey upon his vitals; 
but Prometheus being one of the lesser gods and im- 
mortal, his vitals, though constantly preyed upon, 
immediately reformed and so were never consumed. 
He was thus eternally being devoured but never con- 
sumed. So his misery was perpetual, and his suffer- 
ings eternal. I would say, let such be the fate of 
that man who would stand before the people of this, 
our favored land, and say to them, " The laws should 
be set at naught and held in scorn, that the compli- 
cated network of the laws were as but a spider's web, 
but designed to entrap the unwary or frighten and 
intimidate the weak, while the strong man or the rich 
may break through them with impunity." I tell you 
this is false. The laws are the strong ligaments, 
the chains of iron and steel, the indestructible cords 
which bind society together. They are the life blood 
of the body politic, the very heart of civilization, 
whose pulsation vibrates through every condition of 
society and should it cease its healthy action, should 
its pulsations stop, the social and political bodies 
politic would paralyze. 



162 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

OUR DUTY TO OUR COUNTRY 

When the traveler in visiting a far distant land 
crosses the sandy desert, when he leaves the confines 
of civilization and finds himself standing alone in that 
desert, surrounded by nature's grand and intermi- 
nable solitude, he feels deeply and intensely the loneli- 
ness of his condition and his mind instinctively seeks 
some pleasant object on which to rest amidst such sur- 
rounding gloom. What is the first and only, the 
cherished object which greets his dreamy thoughts? 
It is the far-off land he calls by the sacred and en- 
dearing name, his country ; for that country contains 
his home, the firesides of his ancestors or his family 
and friends, that ever-present and only spot on earth 
which seems dear to his heart amid the scene of deso- 
lation. That home and that country is the only oasis 
in the great desert of life which he clasps to his 
bosom as most cherished to wear next his heart, and 
cheers him on in the hour of peril and of gloom, and 
for the moment that fancied, cherished object, thus 
imaginatively pressed, makes him happy. 

When the tempest-tossed and sea-drifted mariner 
sees the waves of the ocean fearfully dashing over 
his lonely ship, when he sees the streaming lightning 
and hears the thunder's awful crash, the waves, the 
winds, the resistless ocean, hurling destruction where- 
ever he turns his terror-stricken eye, he involuntarily 
looks with his mind's eye beyond those fearful scenes 
around him and sees his country and the home of his 
birth, his cherished wife, his beloved children and his 
venerated parents surrounding the hearth of his home 
in that cherished land, and his heart throbs the 



OKLO JAY HAMLIN 163 

deeper; but that sight has been an electric, a 
magical touch to his being, and his limbs grow strong 
to tussle with the devouring elements, his heart 
bounds with joy at the thought of his native land and 
all it contains so dear to him. This thought has im- 
bued him with superhuman strength, and he resolutely 
does all that can be done by mortal man to save his 
ship from wreck and ruin, in the hope of once more 
revisiting the scenes of his childhood and clasping 
his wife, his family and his friends again to his em- 
brace. He does his duty. 

And what duty do we owe to that country which we 
so much cherish and adore, that country of which 
it is our pride to boast, that country which gives to us 
our individual nationality and protects us in the en- 
joyment of life, liberty and all our social and politi- 
cal privileges? We owe to it the allegiance of our 
first best love. We owe to it all that self-sacrificing 
devotion can inspire, all that disinterested patriotism 
can accomplish — unqualified submission to the laws, 
the institutions which the concentrated wisdom and 
patriotism of the greatest and best men of that 
cherished country have planned for our social and 
political guidance. 

And what is patriotism? What is unqualified sub- 
mission and devotion to our country? Let us for the 
passing moment draw a parallel. Let us make a con- 
trast. Cortez and Pizaro were great heroes in their 
day, the one conquered and subdued Peru and the 
other Mexico. They conquered, they subdued. Their 
infatuated countrymen encircled their brows with the 
chaplet of fame, but what were their motives? For 
as motive is our mainspring to all action, to* decide 



164 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

whether to praise or censure, we must first know its 
object and its purpose. Is it avarice or is it philan- 
thropy? The one we all condemn, the other all ap- 
plaud. Those heroic conquerors of the then new 
world were dictated by the lust for fame, the love of 
conquest, and more than all, to gratify the love of 
avarice, that most degrading, demoralizing and un- 
christian of all the catalogue of the evil passions of 
our nature. The sordid love of gold was their object 
and their aim, the bloody shrine of Mammon was the 
only altar at which they sacrificed. To enrich them- 
selves and to gather gold for their countrymen, an 
innocent and unoffending people, the natives of Peru 
and Mexico, were enslaved, imprisoned and wantonly 
murdered. Fire and sword and carnage desolated the 
plains of fruitful Mexico and the mountains of gold- 
and diamond-bearing Peru. Montezumas were 
slaughtered in the halls of their ancestors and the 
Incas of Peru were barbarously made blind by tor- 
ture. Cortez and Pizaro were not patriots but demons 
in human guise. 

But let us look again and behold another picture. 
Garibaldi, now claimed a son of the Emerald Isle, 
adopted lovely Italy for his home, that sunny land of 
classics and of flowers. That land was groaning 
under the oppressor's iron heel of despotism, but her 
generous sons aroused from their lethargy, the spirit 
of liberty once more enlivened and animated their 
breasts, the shrill notes of their war trumpets and the 
clangor of military armaments again rang along her 
hillsides and in her valleys. Garibaldi mounted his 
war horse and proclaimed to the down-trodden chil- 
dren of Italy " the days of your oppression are num- 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 165 

bered. Italy shall yet be free." The fight began. It 
thickened nntil that classic land, the land of the best 
of the Romans, was in a constant blaze of military 
achievements following one upon the other in rapid 
succession. Amid all the scenes of strife and blood- 
shed which followed in the wake of this war for 
liberty, Garibaldi, the conquering hero, was foremost 
in the van and bravest of the brave. Victory perched 
upon his flagstaff at every battle. His name became 
a terror even to tyrants, and even now his victorious 
banners are floating upon the breeze in the Island of 
Sicily where he has declared in trumpet tones, " Lib- 
erty to the two millions of the oppressed people of 
that crushed and unhappy island." 

Beyond a human doubt, his only motives were to 
free the oppressed, his only ambition to serve the 
cause of freedom. Such was Garibaldi. Such is the 
patriot who now challenges the praise and gratitude 
of every friend of the rights of man. The name of 
Garibaldi will ever be revered as a patriot, while 
those of Pizaro and Cortez will always merit and 
receive the opprobrium of mankind. 

Again, Napoleon Bonaparte, the demigod of embat- 
tling legions, the greatest military hero whose deeds 
grace the pages of history, the Alexander of the nine- 
teenth century, when he crossed the bridge at Lodi, 
trampling on the bodies of his slain countrymen, wad- 
ing ankle deep in their yet warm blood, bearing aloft 
the eagle banner of France in one hand and his 
sword in the other, performed the most daring deed, 
the most heroic feat ever accomplished by mortal 
man. But was he a patriot? According to the read- 
ings of the English historians, we would say no; his 



166 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

breast was animated not by love for bis country's 
good, but by lust for power, for the base magnificent 
aggrandizement of his country, and his own all-sweep- 
ing, grasping, personal ambition. Five millions of 
people have with the cost of their lives paid the for- 
feit of that unhallowed ambition. A pure, unsullied 
patriot's heart never beat in his restlessly ambitious 
breast. His name, if English history be true, will 
never be enshrined as a patriot. 

But if the American historian, Abbott, has given 
us the more truthful reading, he was the champion of 
Republican institutions in Europe, and was sought 
to be crushed by their kings for defending the dearest 
political rights of the people. They hated him be- 
cause he adored the principle of republicanism. If 
this be true, then we should class him among the pa- 
triots. I leave the question for the audience to decide 
for themselves. 

But look at Washington, our own and only one, 
Washington ; when he retreated before the victorious 
armies of England and, though galling to his pride 
as a man and his ambition as a soldier, in the midst 
of the pitiless pittings of a December snow-storm, re- 
crossed the Delaware with his few and suffering 
troops because his country and his country's good 
made such inglorious retreat his duty. That duty 
though it brought anguish to his heart, he gallantly, 
cheerfully performed, because it was best for the 
sacred cause of liberty; but the performance of that 
duty did not long go unrewarded. Soon the crowning 
victory of his arms at the battle of Trenton and the 
surrender of a thousand Hessian prisoners proved to 
the enemy, proved to the world, that private virtue, 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 16T 

that pure, unadulterated self-devotion to the sacred 
cause of country is ever the reward of patriotism. 
He did his duty and did it well. 

The history of the American Revolution is replete 
with the deeds of patriots, the sacrifices of self-de- 
votion to their country's good ; but that history, bright 
and luminous as it is with the deeds of heroes, has 
one dark black page to mar its symmetry. The Sav- 
iour of mankind called around him his twelve Apos- 
tles to reprove sin and point the way to Heaven. 
Among them was the traitor Judas, and in the back- 
ground of the assembled heroes of our struggle for 
national independence stands the satanic form of 
Benedict Arnold, the American arch-traitor, whose 
memory justly challenges the world for its compeer, 
a traitor to the most sacred cause in which mortals 
ever struggled. As Cain went forth with the mark of 
God's displeasure indelibly written on his forehead, 
so the name and the character of Benedict Arnold is 
by the good of all nations eternally stamped with 
infamy. He failed to do his duty. 

No one can doubt which of these to admire, which 
to condemn. Let us without a moment's hesitation 
select the spotless character of our immortal Wash- 
ington for our guide in doing our duty to that country 
whose inheritance and whose institutions are our 
pride and our national glory, and we will write for 
ourselves that most valued of all characters, the char- 
acter of a good and faithful citizen. 

Admiral Nelson, at the battle of Trafalgar, gave 
out as a watchword, " England this day expects every 
man to do his duty." So America now and ever ex- 
pects every man to do his duty. 



168 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

Our duties to other nations are, in my judgment, 
few and simple. We owe to ourselves and to them 
the perpetuation of that most valuable of all political 
principles, that which is most truly American, non- 
intervention with the affairs of other nations. So 
long as the American people act for themselves and 
allow other nations to act independently of all other 
political powers, so long as we avoid entanglement 
by foreign alliances, so long shall we render ourselves 
respected abroad and powerful at home. In so much 
shall we have accomplished the great destiny which 
our republican institutions have assigned us. But 
we have another paramount duty imposed on us. As 
the American government is the only civil one which 
has tried and established institutions founded on the 
political principle of self-government, so we owe to 
other nations that this principle, so ennobling and 
elevating to the masses of which society is composed, 
should be fully and fairly tested. We must not sur- 
render at the first difficulty, but be like Napoleon's 
guard who said at the Battle of Waterloo, " the guard 
dies, but never surrenders." So the American people 
should rather die than surrender this great principle 
of human right and human freedom. 

That we have serious difficulties to encounter, no 
reflecting man can doubt, but that those difficulties 
are not insurmountable there is just as little room to 
doubt, after an experiment of eighty years of un- 
bounded success and prosperity. True, that now at 
this most critical juncture of time we see one great, 
one imminent danger, not alone in the dim, shadowy 
future, but quite too near, too palpably before us at 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 169 

this very hour. We can but see that great political 
maelstrom of disunion, seething and surging ready to 
engulf all our brightest hopes and most cherished ex- 
pectations of a glorious future in its fearful grasp. 
We see that hydra-headed monster disunion looming 
up in the distance before us, ever ready, like a giant 
of old, to crush us at a blow. There is danger of a 
disruption of the fair fabric of our political Union 
from sources so pregnant with that impending evil, 
so apparent to all, that I need not describe to so intel- 
ligent an audience as that before me, what those evils 
are, but only ask of you to be calm, be consistent, and 
self -relying in this, our hour of peril, and like a skill- 
ful helmsman, right reason will guide us through the 
storm. 

In this we need the aid of patriotic forbearance and 
public virtue. Let us remember others have opinions 
as well as ourselves and the same natural right to their 
enjoyment. To gain harmonious action, each one of 
us must concede something, and this we are bound to 
do in respect for others. Under the circumstances 
such concession is no dishonor, especially when the 
prize for those who love their country, their whole 
country and nothing (so far as governments are con- 
cerned) but their country, is so great, so glorious, so 
worthy the achievement. We have set the example of 
free institutions before the admiring nations of the 
earth. We must never surrender, never go back, never 
yield an inch of that ground so honorably won by the 
blood and treasures and self-sacrificing sufferings of 
our worthy and heroic ancestors, but must at all 
hazard and at any cost hand down to succeeding gen- 



170 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

erations this precious legacy of self-government, pure, 
immaculate, unchanged, as it is God's greatest and 
best gift to man. 

Our institutions are as a lighthouse set upon a 
hilltop. Other nations see the dazzling beams of its 
living light ; the light of that beacon tower must never 
be extinguished or dimmed, but must shine on and 
ever, until the Archangel shall stand one foot upon 
the land and one upon the sea and declare that 
" time shall be no more." 

[The closing paragraph of this manuscript was 
undoubtedly added after the opening of the Civil 
War. — Editor.] 

Fellow citizens, the dark, portentous clouds of civil 
war and internecine strife are upon us. They sur- 
round us on all sides and have burst with the lurid 
glare of their lightning and booming thunder of the 
artillery of contending armies. Fort Sumter has 
fallen, the gallant Ellsworth, Ryan and Baker and 
thousands of their fellow soldiers rest in patriots' 
graves. They are shrouded in their " martial cloaks " 
and the yet fresh green turf rests upon their heroic 
breasts; but their country has aroused to the rescue 
of the Constitution, the supremacy of the government 
and the laws, determined at any cost of life and treas- 
ure to support and sustain the flag of the Union. 
That flag of stars and stripes, the most glorious em- 
blem of liberty, equality and national power, must 
not be polluted or a star or a stripe effaced from its 
folds; but every true hearted freeman stand to his 
arms in defense of his country, his home and the 
graves of his sires. Let the thoughts of a beloved 
home and of a country with the best and most happy 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 171 

government on earth nerve his heart with courage 
and steel his arm to strike, until the Constitution of 
the Union shall reign supreme the whole length and 
breadth of this land and the " Star Spangled Banner 
shall wave o'er the land of the free and the homes of 
the brave," over every inch of the soil of the United 
States of North America. 



VIEWS OF A PRIVATE CITIZEN ON THE 
QUESTION OF CONSTITUTIONAL 
SECESSION 

CAN one or more of the United States peaceably, 
voluntarily and constitutionally secede from 
the Union? 

In case one or more of them do secede, would it be 
the right and the duty of the government of the United 
States to resist and punish such secession, if need be, 
by force of the military power of said government? 

1st. Can a State constitutionally secede? 

SYNOPSIS OF AN ARGUMENT: 

Our government is an anomaly, an enigma among 
the history of nations. 

One government for some purposes and separate 
governments for other purposes. 

The national government rests upon the Constitu- 
tion, that is the supreme law. It is a unity for na- 
tional purposes and a confederacy for state purposes. 

The preamble to the Constitution states what it is, 
what its object and who made it. 

It is not declared to be a league of independent 
States, nor a confederacy of such States, but it de- 
clares that "We, the people of the United States" 
(for certain purposes) " do ordain and establish this 
Constitution of the United States of America." 

It was the whole people of the United States as one 

172 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 173 

people and not the thirteen United States as indepen- 
dent States, that formed the compact, for it was a 
compact. Had it been a confederacy of States as 
States or a league between independent States, it 
should have been drawn, "This league (or confed- 
eracy) of the thirteen separate and independent 
United States of America (the purposes, etc.) do 
form, ordain and establish this Constitution." It 
was not so drawn and intended to be. 

The Constitution was planned to make us one gov- 
ernment, one people, one nation, leaving the States to 
form state constitutions and state governments for 
themselves. 

The civilized world have ever called the people of 
the United States a "nation," not a "league" or 
" confederacy." 

In Europe, sovereign States have leagued for cer- 
tain purposes, as the German League, or, Confedera- 
tion of the Rhine, yet each State retains its sov- 
ereignty and acts or refuses to act separately for 
itself, for there the action of a majority will not 
bind the minority, but the consent of each must be 
obtained. 

Consequently, they have no power as one people or 
nation unless all agree ; while in the United States a 
majority rules. 

Sovereign States of Europe sometimes form al- 
liances, but those alliances do not make them one 
nation. 

The United States being one nation (for national 
purposes) , can a portion of that nation withdraw from 
their nationality and voluntarily go out of the com- 
pact? 



174 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

For this the Constitution of the United States 
makes no provision. 

The national compact was not made to be dissolved 
at the pleasure of the parties. The preamble declares 
it made " to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves 
and our posterity." 

Had it not been designed to be permanent, its 
framers would have provided the constitutional means 
by which it might be dissolved. This was not done. 
They provided for its amendment, but not its dissolu- 
tion. 

The history of the civilized world shows that when 
nations are formed they are always planned to be per- 
manent, and I know not of the history of any nation 
designed to be otherwise. 

We have been a nation under the present Constitu- 
tion seventy-three years, and all the legislation for 
that period of time has looked to the end and clearly 
been designed for a permanent nation. Every fort, 
every harbor, every preparation for national defense 
clearly shows they were meant for the permanent use 
of one nation. All our congressional legislation 
points with an unerring index to the future of one 
great nation. 

Was ever an enlightened American statesman or a 
distinguished American jurist heard to say we were 
not designed to be and in fact one nation, that is, in 
the language of the constitution, " We, the people of 
the United States"? 

We are made one nation not only by and under the 
Constitution, but by the past and present common 
consent of the individuals who compose it. Every 
man thinks and feels as his first instinctive political 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 175 

sentiment, that the United States are one people and 
one nation. 

If this be true, does the history of the world show 
a precedent of one portion of a nation voluntarily 
withdrawing from the body politic without its being 
the result of a military, not political, revolution? I 
believe there is no such record. 

I well know that military power has divided na- 
tions, but voluntary secession has not a precedent. 

But, say the Secessionists, the United States is a 
confederacy of States, each State being separate and 
independent. It retains its political sovereignty when 
it becomes a member of the confederacy and as such 
independent sovereign power. It is not bound to 
remain in the Union longer than it chooses, and that 
when the Constitution or the laws enacted by its 
authority are palpably too oppressive upon them to 
be longer borne, they can constitutionally withdraw 
from the Union. 

That the States do not yield their state sovereignty 
in joining the confederacy is true, nor is it necessary 
that they should, but they overlook the fact that they 
are not sovereign for all purposes, but only for state 
purposes. They are only sovereign in their legitimate 
sphere. They form their own state constitution and 
state laws. They regulate all their internal state 
polity and domestic institutions, independently, but 
they may not do it in contravention to the United 
States' Constitution, for that the whole people have 
declared to be supreme over all. 

The States are, therefore, not sovereign in an un- 
limited sense of the term, but there is a limit to their 
sovereignty. The Constitution of the United States 



176 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

is paramount, and so to speak, lord of the ascendant 
over them. 

They have yielded up their higher powers of political 
sovereignty to the Constitution and government of 
the United States. 

But the people as a nation are lords over the Con- 
stitution and the government, for they can change or 
abrogate it and form a new one. 

The condition of the States may well be likened to 
the barons and their dependents in feudal times. The 
subjects of the baronage owed fealty to the lord of 
the seigniory so far as the jurisdiction of the seign- 
iory was concerned, but first and highest over all 
they owed fealty and allegiance to their king, who was 
lord paramount over both baron and peoples. 

I take the ground that a State in its constitutional 
sense is not sovereign in a national sense of the term. 

For the highest power of a State as a nation is the 
possession of the right of declaring war and making 
peace. This by the Constitution is denied to the 
States separately. 

The Constitution provides, Art. 1, Sec. 1, and No. 2, 
" No State shall, without the consent of Congress, 
enter into any agreement or compact with another 
State, or with a foreign power, or engage in war, 
unless actually invaded, etc." 

Every purely sovereign and independent State or 
nation in Christendom claims and exercises this power 
and it follows that if a State has not constitutionally 
this plenary power, it is wanting in one of the most 
essential prerogatives of sovereignty. 

A state by the Constitution is expressly denied other 
powers equally vital to its existence as a nation, for 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 177 

by the same section, it is denied the right to " make 
a treaty," " coin money," or " lay any imposts or 
duties." It is clear that a State is not sovereign in a 
national sense when it does not possess, but has ex- 
pressly yielded up to a superior power these necessary 
prerogatives. 

How does a State act in its capacity as a member of 
this confederacy? Does it act separately under the 
Constitution, as an independent power? No, it acts 
not as a State, but the people of the State exercise 
their political franchises conjointly with the whole 
people of the United States. 

The people of the United States, not the States as 
States, elect a president. The moment a United 
States Senator is elected and acts politically, offi- 
cially, he loses his identity as a Senator of the partic- 
ular State he represents and acts officially as a Sena- 
tor of the United States. The same thing occurs when 
the people of a Congressional District elect a con- 
gressional representative. The representative loses 
his local identity and as a constituent member of the 
law-making power, he acts for and is a representative 
of and for the United States. A law is never passed 
by the vote of the State but by the vote of the whole 
of the Senators or Representatives of the American 
Nation, acting conjointly as but one power. 

Under the Constitution, the States vote separately 
but on a single occasion, that of voting for a candi- 
date for President of the United States when the elec- 
tion goes to the House of Representatives. 

But never to frame a law or make a treaty. 

When the Constitution was formed, delegates were 
elected by the people of each State and when they 



178 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

acted in general convention, they acted, they voted, as 
one deliberative body, as a whole and not by States. 
True, the Constitution was adopted by the separate 
States as States for the plain reason that before the 
Constitution they were separate and independent 
colonies and, therefore, had the right to accept or 
reject the Constitution, each for themselves; but now 
they have adopted the Constitution, they have lost 
their identity as States for national purposes, but 
fully reserved their sovereignty for state purposes. 

For national purposes they have agreed to form one 
government, one nation and be one people. 

It is said that the Constitution was formed by a 
compact of the separate States and that as a compact 
is an agreement between parties or States, as they 
came voluntarily into the compact, they can volun- 
tarily go out of the compact. 

Now the friends of secession are strict construction- 
ists. Where do they find any declared power in the 
instrument to let them out? There is no such clause 
in the Constitution. Everything in that sacred in- 
strument clearly proves that it was intended as a per- 
petuity, designed not for those American citizens who 
were then living alone, or for their children, or for 
their children's offspring, but to reach down the future 
vista of time to the remotest period of political gov- 
ernment and human civilization. 

Marriage is a voluntary compact, yet civilized States 
or nations do not allow the parties to sunder the 
marital ties and voluntarily go out of the marriage 
contract. 

Allegiance is virtually a compact of mutual protec- 
tion on the one side and subjection on the other, yet 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 179 

no State would allow a citizen voluntarily to throw 
off his allegiance while living within its jurisdiction 
and set himself up independently in open derogation 
of the Constitution and the laws of that State to whom 
his allegiance was due. If he were to resist the Con- 
stitution and the laws, the State would punish him as 
a traitor. 

True, he may voluntarily withdraw from the State 
and its jurisdiction and join another State or be an 
inhabitant of another country, because the right of 
immigration is guaranteed to him, but if he withdraw 
for the very purpose of openly declaring war against 
or joining the enemies of the State of his native allegi- 
ance, before he is absolved from that allegiance by 
legally becoming a citizen of another State is he not a 
traitor? 

If the Constitution was formed by a league of the 
separate States, that league might lawfully be, at any 
time, dissolved, either by common consent or the with- 
drawal of one of its members ; because the league was 
not only voluntary but there is no sanction or penalty 
for its enforcement; but in all compacts there is a 
sanction or penalty either express or implied and no 
compact is ever voluntarily annulled without incur- 
ring a penalty. 

As punishment is the fruit of crime, so is a penalty 
the fruit of violation of compact. The compact of 
the States, though voluntary, was by the Constitution 
made permanent, perpetual, not intended to be broken 
and if broken it subjects the offender to the penalty of 
disobedience for its violation. Hence, no State can 
secede without incurring a penalty and what other 
penalty can it be but the guilt of treason? 



180 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

By dismembering the government, you destroy that 
government, and if you avowedly by overt acts seek 
to destroy that government, do you not commit treason 
against that government? 

If a State refuses to elect members of Congress, it 
is not an overt action — it may do so with impunity. 
In that case, those States who do elect enact laws and 
aid to carry on the government without the aid of the 
refractory State, and the refractory State must sub- 
mit to such constitutional laws as are made for them 
by the otherwise legally constituted Congress. 

If the constitutional majority of Senators and Con- 
gressmen are not elected, or refuse to take their seats 
when elected, so that constitutionally there is not a 
quorum, this might cause a hiatus, a lapse, so to speak, 
an interregnum in the operations of the government, 
but still I apprehend the President, and officers of 
state, the federal judiciary and marshals, the Army 
and Navy (if need be) are still legally and constitu- 
tionally bound to carry on the government as hereto- 
fore, and should they refuse to act, would be liable to 
impeachment ; but it must be admitted that this state 
of things long persisted in must inevitably lead to 
revolution but never can be a constitutional mode of 
secession. 

That a State or any portion of the States cannot 
constitutionally secede is indubitably proven by refer- 
ence to the restriction contained in the nineteenth sec- 
tion of the first article already quoted, which provides 
that " No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance 
or confederation," as also by the latter part of No. 2 
of the same section, which provides that " No State 
shall without the consent of Congress, i enter into any 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 181 

agreement or compact with another State or with a 
foreign power/ " 

Does any sane man suppose it possible for a single 
State to maintain its independence alone and unaided 
by any other State or power? The supposition is pre- 
posterous and yet it is plainly denied the right to form 
any " agreement or compact "' even with another State 
or an alliance with a foreign power. Now, can any 
number of States form a treaty or alliance with a 
foreign power or an agreement or compact between 
themselves without a palpable and plain violation of 
the express terms of the constitution? 

If, then, there was no other constitutional inhi- 
bition, the foregoing is a sufficient guaranty to the 
United States that no State or number of States can 
constitutionally secede from the Union without de- 
stroying the constitutional compact which now binds 
them together. 

The first political act which would most naturally 
flow from a secession of States would be that of their 
uniting themselves together as a confederacy for mu- 
tual protection and defense. This is not only pro- 
hibited by the Constitution but the commission of such 
an act as forming a new confederacy or alliance would 
be an offense against the government of the United 
States and punishable by the constituted authori- 
ties. 

If these views are a correct interpretation of the 
constitutional provisions in regard to the questions 
involved, then secession is not the constitutional 
remedy to correct any political grievance under which 
any portion of the people of the United States may 
suffer. 



182 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

Their constitutional remedies are plainly pointed 
out by that Constitution and are as follows: 

If the operation of any law of Congress becomes 
oppressive to the people, they have the right to 
petition Congress for redress by changing the law, by 
remodeling or annulling it. If their representatives 
are unfaithful, they may elect others pledged to reform 
the evil complained of. If even the United States 
Supreme Court decides a grave principle of constitu- 
tional law adverse to the public sentiment, the people 
may change the administration so as to re-mold in 
process of time, even this high and august tribunal, 
and so wise are the constitutional provisions in behalf 
of the supremacy of the people, that when these reme- 
dies fail, they may by the action of two-thirds vote 
of the States, confirmed or approved by three-fourths 
of the States, assemble a new convention and recon- 
struct even the Constitution itself and thereby 
change the whole fundamental system if their sov- 
ereign will shall so decide. These are peaceful and 
constitutional remedies ; but secession is neither peace- 
ful nor constitutional. 

The Constitution of the United States was planned 
by enlarged wisdom and exalted patriotism. Can it 
indeed be that this sacred instrument heretofore con- 
sidered the broad and ample shield for the protection 
of our liberties, the rock upon which our social and 
political fabric has rested for seventy-three years, and 
which was believed to be as enduring as a rock of ada- 
mant, is a base myth, a fable of but yesterday's con- 
struction ? Can it be that this constitutional compact, 
hallowed by the blood and the sacrifices of our revolu- 
tionary ancestors and thus made sacred to the cause of 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 183 

human liberty, that this instrument framed by the 
assembled wisdom of the most patriotic and devoted 
of American statesmen who ever graced this youthful 
nation, the philosophers, the jurists, the patriots of 
the eighteenth century, can be torn asunder, severed 
and destroyed by the first breath of disaffection 
among a portion of our people? 

Shall the name of our immortal Washington, that 
name which graced this priceless instrument as its 
presiding officer, be henceforth held as a by -word of 
derision? Shall the statue of this man whose fame is 
co-extensive with the whole world in which we live, 
be thrown down from its pedestal and trampled in 
the dust before the nation to whom he gave their free- 
dom, the glory of his fame and the wisdom of this 
incomparable instrument has passed the first century 
of its national existence? 

Shall that banner of the Stars and Stripes which 
floats in the breeze and is wafted by the winds of 
heaven in every ocean and every sea and which covers 
the American name in every land and every clime with 
honor and with glory, be torn to shreds by the first 
breeze of sectional or local disaffection, and this na- 
tion's emblem be shorn of its glory and trailed in the 
dust of domestic discord? No! Earth and heaven 
forbid. Let every man who loves his country stand 
firm to the rescue and say with the Patriot Jackson, 
" The Constitution must and shall be preserved." 

As to the power of the Federal Government to exert 
military force (if need be) for the reclamation of a 
seceding State or States, if it is a question at all, it is 
a very grave one. Whether the f ramers of the Consti- f 



184 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

tution ever contemplated such a contingency, I am 
unable to say. As I have never seen the debates of the 
convention and, therefore, have no guide but the Con- 
stitution as it is published, by that alone I must make 
up my mind on this question. 

It seems to me that if it be true that by the Con- 
stitution the American people are politically made 
one government, a nation, for national purposes at 
least, then it is the first great duty of that govern- 
ment to protect itself and all the parts of which it is 
composed — it being a settled rule that self-preserva- 
tion is as binding a law for nations as for individuals. 

As no individual would voluntarily see his own 
lands or his possessions or his family dismembered 
and torn asunder, divided into lots and parcels and 
pass to the possession of another without resisting 
such dismemberment, peaceably if he could, forcibly if 
he must ; so no government can in accordance with the 
laws of nature or of nations voluntarily submit to its 
own dismemberment and consequent destruction. 

It may be safely asserted that no nation of the civ- 
ilized world, so to speak, would quietly sit down and 
fold up its arms in inaction while any portion of the 
people of that nation were rife in sedition or insurrec- 
tion against such government. 

If a revolt or insurrection were to break out in any 
part of England, France or any other nation on the 
Continent, the government would not for a moment 
hesitate to put it down by the military power, if nec- 
essary, such being in accordance with the policy of all 
nations, and not as a policy alone but as the positive 
duty of the government. 

If it be the policy and the duty of a monarchical 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 185 

government to protect itself from secession or dismem- 
berment, is it not equally the policy and duty of a 
representative or republican form of government? If 
the political existence of a republican government is 
in jeopardy, I see no reason why it is not equally im- 
perative on the government functionaries and its 
citizens to unite with that government to save itself, 
as it would be if the government were of another form ; 
and I believe there is no reason found in the Constitu- 
tion why it should not exercise that power. 

If our country is attacked by a foreign power, at any 
point, no one doubts the duty or the power of our gov- 
ernment to resist such attack, force by force. 

Is not that duty just as imperative if the attack 
comes from an internal enemy as from an external one, 
the object in either case being either the dismember- 
ment of the destruction of this government? The 
object and the effect being the same, the duty would 
be the same. 

But it may be said that peaceable secession is not 
an overt act of hostility. Would it not produce pre- 
cisely the same practical result? It is a principle 
of criminal law that a man is presumed to contem- 
plate a result such as would naturally flow from or 
follow the act he committed, and hence he is held 
criminally responsible for the result of such act. 

THE PROMINENT RESULTS OF SECESSION WOULD BE: 

1st. Weakening the physical power of the govern- 
ment by just so great a number of the States or people 
of the United States who withdraw from the Union. 
It may be likened to the desertion of a portion of the 



186 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

federal army in time of peace. This would lessen our 
military force of protection and defense and be pun- 
ishable as an offense against the government. If such 
desertion were in time of war and the deserter joined 
the enemy, it would not only lessen our power but 
strengthen the enemy, and the offense would be virtu- 
ally, whether legally or not, treason. 

2d. Secession would reduce the United States to a 
second-class power in the scale of nations, whereas 
now we rank as a first-class power. 

3d. Secession would leave those States remaining in 
the Union to be burdened with much greater taxation 
or expense to support a sufficient land and naval force 
to make our position among nations respected and 
secure. 

4th. The people of the several States would be sub- 
ject to an onerous burden of imposts and duties on 
what otherwise would have been internal commerce 
between the States or portions of them. 

5th. The free navigation of lakes and rivers of the 
American continent might either be barred by some 
of the States against others or subjected to maritime 
restrictions greatly detrimental to commerce, thereby 
subjecting the people of different States to almost end- 
less controversy. 

Are not these evils and the multitude of others 
which necessarily would follow as a consequence of 
secession, of such magnitude as to make it the impera- 
tive duty of the government of the United States and 
the people who compose it, to protect themselves 
against them? 

I am led to suppose that the bare act of secession 
itself, though an offense, could not under any pro- 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 187 

vision of the Constitution be punished as a legal of- 
fense. It would certainly be before the tribunal of 
conscience, both a moral and political dereliction from 
duty, and in its consequences be a clearly and well- 
defined offense for which I know no name but 
treason. 

Suppose a primarily peaceable secession or with- 
drawal of a State from the Union, what follows? 
Among others, the Constitution provides that the ex- 
penses of government shall be defrayed by direct 
taxation, each State being taxed in proportion to its 
population. We all know that this plan has been 
changed to raising a revenue by a tariff of duties on 
foreign importations, as being more acceptable to the 
people, but the principle is the same, for each State 
now pays in proportion to her imports and consump- 
tion of foreign merchandise and products. If a State 
withdraws and sets up for itself an independent 
sovereign power, that moment she thus assumes her 
separate sovereignty, she will refuse to act as the agent 
of the United States in collecting and paying over the 
proceeds of a tariff revenue to the United States, for 
she will either close her ports to importation, make 
them free of duty or impose and collect them for her 
own use. Either of these alternatives would be an 
offense against the laws of the United States. 

The President, the judiciary and United States 
officials are bound in duty and by oath to execute the 
laws faithfully ; — now comes the conflict. The State 
refuses to collect and pay over the duties, or to allow a 
United States collector to do so. If the United States 
collector is resisted, the President must provide, in the 
last resort, a military force to protect the collector or 



188 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

United States marshal as the case may be. If the 
State does not yield and resists, it must resist by 
force, and force on the one side must unavoidably be 
met by force on the other side, and hence rebellion or 
revolution. 

Again, similar difficulties would occur in executing 
the judgments and decrees of the United States Su- 
preme Court within the jurisdiction of the disaffected 
States, The latter would no longer submit to the 
authority of the United States in carrying out the 
judgments or decrees of the courts in the last resort. 
If the seceding State resists the officers by force and a 
posse comitatus of the vicinity or people at large 
refuse to aid, what is to be done? There is no alter- 
native. The laws must be executed and the President 
must send a military force of the United States troops 
to protect the officer in doing his duty. If the State 
resists by force, then comes the inevitable collision, 
and insurrection or revolution is the unavoidable 
result. 

In short, whenever the jurisdiction or powers of 
the seceding State comes into contact with those of 
the United States, a collision must ensue. If force is 
resorted to, the United States cannot constitutionally 
yield, for the laws must be faithfully executed. 

A State's withdrawing from the Union might not 
be insurrection, but if a State withdraws from the 
jurisdiction of the United States, sets up an indepen- 
dent government in derogation to the authority of the 
United States and opposes its mandates, the mandates 
of the laws and the Constitution by force of arms, this 
must be insurrection within the meaning of the Con- 
stitution. 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 189 

The term " insurrection " is the one selected by the 
framers of the Constitution, and means a rising 
against political or civil authority, and hence if the 
insurrection is directed not only against the execution 
of the laws but against the government itself, in its 
practical application it would be tantamount to re- 
bellion, because its effect would be to destroy or over- 
throw the government. 

By the second section, article second of the Consti- 
tution of the United States, the President is made the 
Commander-in-chief of the Army and Navy when 
called into active service and by the third section of 
the same article, it provides that "he" (the Presi- 
dent) " shall take care that the laws be faithfully 
executed," and by the eighth section, first article of the 
Constitution, " Congress shall have power," " to pro- 
vide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of 
the Union, suppress insurrection and repel invasions." 
Congress also has power to make all laws " necessary 
to carry the foregoing into effect." 

In pursuance of the latter authority, Congress did 
by act of the 28th of February, 1795, provide that " in 
case of insurrection in any State, against the govern- 
ment thereof, it shall be lawful for the President of 
the United States, on application of the Legislature of 
such State, or of the executive (when the legislature 
cannot be convened ) to call forth such number of the 
militia of any other State or States as may be applied 
for, as he may judge sufficient to suppress such insur- 
rection." 

Also, that " Whenever the laws of the United States 
shall be opposed, or the execution thereof obstructed, 
in any State, by combinations too powerful to be sup- 



190 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

pressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, 
or by the power vested in the marshal, by this act it 
shall be lawful for the President of the United States, 
to call forth the militia of such State, or of any other 
State or States as may be necessary to suppress such 
combinations, and to cause the laws to be duly ex- 
ecuted." 

It would seem that such a contingency as secession 
by a State is not distinctly provided for either by the 
Constitution or by acts of Congress to which I have 
referred, and that reference by authority to such a 
contingency and that only by implication, consists in 
the warning given by President Washington in his 
farewell address, to beware of sectional jealousies 
which may arise from geographical lines, and that 
spirit of party feeling which may result from the same 
cause, in these sentiments he seems clearly to have 
contemplated this evil of secession, although he does 
not distinctly speak of it. 

The act of secession not being provided for by the 
Constitution or the laws, should the contingency arise, 
what is to be done? Must the Union be rent asunder 
without an effort to save it? No, there is a remedy. 
When secession culminates to an open resistance to 
the laws of the United States, when an insurrection- 
ary movement is inaugurated against the execution of 
those laws, the President is clothed with ample powers 
to call out the military force of the government for its 
suppression and it is his clear duty so to do. He 
must see that the laws are faithfully executed and to 
accomplish such purpose his only constitutional 
course is to use the military arm of the government; 
if force is used by those opposed to the laws, he must 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 191 

resist force by force. However painful the duty may 
be, he has no alternative, for both his duty and his 
oath require it. 

The use of the military power of the government to 
quell an insurrection is sustained by precedent as 
early as 1786 and before the adoption of the Constitu- 
tion. An insurrection started in Massachusetts, 
headed by one Shay and commonly called " Shay's In- 
surrection." Some laws had been passed in Massa- 
chusetts repugnant to the wishes of a portion of the 
people who thought them oppressive and unnecessary. 
The Court Houses were surrounded by mobs and even 
the Superior Court at its sitting was surrounded by 
an armed mob. The Courts were threatened and sat 
under intimidation and finally were compelled to 
break up the session. The governor of the State 
called out the large body of four thousand militia of 
Massachusetts, put them under the command of Gen- 
eral Lincoln and ordered him to proceed and disperse 
the insurgents. This was promptly done and in its 
execution several lives were lost, but the insurrection 
was crushed. 

Again, in 1794, arose what was called the " Whisky 
Insurrection," when the people living on the west side 
of the Allegheny Mountains in Pennsylvania thought 
themselves unjustly oppressed by the operation of the 
excise laws passed by Congress in 1792. The mal- 
contents assembled in large force, appointed a com- 
mander and set up an organized resistance to the col- 
lection of revenue by an excise upon spirits manufac- 
tured in that part of the State. They attacked and 
burned the house of General Neville, the inspector 
general, and the outbuildings, arrested the General's 



192 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

son-in-law, who was left to protect the house, and 
sought to arrest the inspector himself. President 
Washington, after exercising forbearance and en- 
treaty until both were found to be unavailing, made a 
requisition on four of the States for fifteen thousand 
militia. This force readily came forward to sustain 
the laws. They went to the scene of discontent, over- 
awed the insurgents and quelled the insurrection with- 
out bloodshed. 

Still again, in 1832, South Carolina passed in con- 
vention their celebrated ordinance asserting the right 
of secession and nullifying the laws of Congress passed 
for the collection of a tariff. President Jackson met 
them at the outset with a proclamation declaring that 
secession was not a constitutional remedy and that 
nullification, if persisted in, would be met by the 
United States government, force by force. Congress 
soon modified the tariff laws and the people of that 
State quietly returned to their duty. 

Now, from this view of the Constitution, the laws of 
Congress and the history of our country, it seems to 
me clear that in either point of view, that of the duty 
of the United States as a nation to protect itself, or 
of the government officers to devote their constitu- 
tional authority for its protection, it results that it is 
both the duty and within the power of the government 
to oppose all overt acts of secession by the military 
arm of the government, in the last resort. 

But, it may be asked, will not the principle of resist- 
ance, force by force, if persisted in as between the sep- 
arate States and the government of the United States, 
result in revolution? All must admit the answer, 
that in all human probability it would. However this 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 193 

may be, the Union so long as it remains as one gov- 
ernment, one nation, one people, must be maintained 
in its integrity, by the supremacy of the Constitution 
and the laws. In America it will not do to deny the 
people's power of political revolution — that princi- 
ple underlies both the government and the Constitu- 
tion. When political grievances become too intoler- 
able longer to be endured consistently with their own 
honor and their sacred rights, it is the right as well as 
the duty of the people to rise in the majesty of their 
power, even though it upheaves all the political and 
social elements of society, assert their rights and 
maintain their liberties by an appeal to arms — the 
last resort, the utmost limit of human power. For 
myself, if dissolution of the Union must come, I should 
prefer a peaceable to a revolutionary dissolution, 
which inevitably must result in all the horrors of an 
internecine war. May Heaven arrest us from so fear- 
ful a calamity. 

I am not a disunionist. If I love anything next to 
my own soul, it is the American Union, that Union 
which binds together in one common family of broth- 
erhood a great and happy people, of one blood, one 
language, one race, and whose interests in their coun- 
try are one and inseparable; having, as I hope, one 
great destiny — that of proving to the world the power 
of republican self-government. It was a Union re- 
sulting from the sacrifices of our revolutionary ances- 
tors ( and mine were among them ) , sacrifices of their 
blood, their treasure, and their sufferings. They sac- 
rificed much, very much, but they triumphed and 
secured for themselves and their posterity the bless- 
ings of a just and equal constitution and free govern- 



194 ORLO JAY HAMLIN 

ment. They have left that inestimable inheritance to 
us, but we cannot keep and maintain it without our 
sacrifices. We must also sacrifice, not our blood, our 
treasure or our lives, but we must sacrifice in yielding 
some portion of our political opinions, our private 
will and all our prejudices to the common cause of our 
country's good; to agree to live together in this com- 
mon band of brotherhood and thereby become what we 
now are, one of the great, prosperous and happy na- 
tions of the earth. We must make and continue to 
make mutual concessions of feeling and opinion, to 
mete out justice to those who differ from us on ques- 
tions of public policy. This we can and ought to do, 
for by those alone can this Union be kept together as a 
nation. 

I have not the prestige of a name, position by official 
station, or reputation as a jurist to make what I have 
written of any authority. My opinions as here ex- 
pressed are simply the arguments suggested by a 
somewhat thoughtful consideration of the questions 
involved, the arguments and conclusions of a private 
citizen, whose only claim is the right as such private 
citizen to think and decide for himself all questions 
pertaining to the rights and duties of the government 
under which he lives. 

Smethport, 23 Oct., 1860. 



THE LAW OF NATIONS 

A LECTURE 

THIS is a subject which at first blush would seem 
to be uninteresting for the consideration of a 
general audience, to the unprofessional citizen who 
travels the ordinary business walks of life. This is, 
perhaps, a mistaken idea, for it is clear that in a 
broad and comprehensive view of the interest, the 
rights and the duties of citizens who compose a civil- 
ized community, there is really no subject (save the 
Bible and religion) of more absorbing interest and 
usefulness to the general citizen than a thoughtful 
consideration of the admitted rules and usages of 
those laws which bind and hold together in one civil 
compact, a whole nation of people. Civilization, or 
a reclamation from that original barbarism into which 
the human family fall when uncultivated, when left 
without the law of restraint or social order, was the 
first great step in human progress. 

Law is an unquestionable result of the want, the 
necessities and the individual weakness of the human 
family. 

A nation is no other than a community of men 
formed together for their mutual protection and 
safety and for the better perfection of their own 
natures and promotion of their happiness as a people. 
The law of nations is simply the application of the law 
of nature to human society in its associated condition 

195 



196 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

of national existence. A nation may be composed of 
a large or a small number of men and their families, 
according to the circumstances which caused their 
national formation ; and as a nation, as such, always 
acts as a moral person, being capable of volition, will 
and free moral agency. It is always independent, 
however small may be its territory or the number of its 
inhabitants. Hence it has always the unquestionable 
right to judge and act for itself, independent of any 
other earthly power. This may be called the integrity 
or inviolability of the law of nations, for this principle 
is universally conceded. 

A nation, acknowledged as such by surrounding 
nations, is a community of men acknowledging them- 
selves to be bound together as such and acknowledg- 
ing one common organization which either consists of 
a written constitution (as in this country) or a mon- 
archy of some sort, as in Europe. But as every na- 
tion is really independent and acknowledges no su- 
perior, and as the nations of the earth never met, 
either in mass or in parliamentary form by representa- 
tives to enact the laws of nations, how, it may be 
asked, are those laws composed? The law of nations 
is in its broad sense mainly the law of nature, of which 
the law of God and our own consciences is the inter- 
preter. In other words, the law of nations is the sci- 
ence of the law of nature. The laws of nations are ev- 
idenced by the usage and admitted customs of nations 
in their relations one with another, either voluntarily 
or tacitly assented to; by conventions or treaties 
formed with each other; by custom as between indi- 
vidual nations, and the treaties and writings of emi- 
nent jurists of acknowledged learning, merit and in- 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 197 

tegrity, with their reflections and reasonings in rela- 
tion thereto : the true foundation of which consists in 
the law of nature applied to the societies of nations. 
This law of nature every nation is under a voluntary 
obligation to obey. It is imprinted in the hearts of 
the people of all nations by God himself, and refers 
directly to the conscience of each individual. The 
immutable principles of justice and inward conscious- 
ness of right and wrong, no man nor any nation is at 
liberty to disregard. Cain, the first murderer, knew 
when he had slain his brother Abel that he had com- 
mitted a crime, although he had never seen or known 
of death until he saw his brother stretched lifeless on 
the ground. His conscience smote him for the deed 
and he fled from the presence of his Maker. He 
needed no written law to tell him he was a murderer 
and had violated one of nature's first and most instinc- 
tive laws. A nation which oppresses and robs another 
nation knows that it commits a crime, for it is in- 
stantly held in utter detestation by every other nation. 
The robber nation takes the position of an enemy to 
all mankind and any nation or all may lawfully make 
war upon the robber and utterly destroy it from 
the face of the earth, as civilized nations now de- 
stroy pirates whenever and wherever they can find 
them. 

The law of nature as aplied to nations is called the 
necessary law of nations, because without its observ- 
ance, no nation could long exist and because it is 
inevitably binding upon all. Sometimes it is called 
the internal law of nations because it refers itself 
directly to the consciences of men. 

In a comprehensive view, the law of nations consists 



198 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

of its duties and obligations, the one being inseparably 
connected with the other, because wherever a duty is 
imposed upon one nation towards another nation or 
itself, that nation is under a necessary and unavoid- 
able obligation to perform such duty. 

The paramount duty of every nation is, so to con- 
duct its affairs as to do the greatest possible amount 
of good in its power towards other and surrounding 
nations, consistent with its own honor; in times of 
peace, consistent with the interests and happiness of 
its people. In other words, to act upon the principle 
of the Golden Rule, to do unto others as you would 
that they should do to you. By adopting and prac- 
ticing these rules, the nations of the earth can only 
secure and perfect their own happiness and prosperity. 
But we are not bound to do another nation the greatest 
good if by so doing we should materially injure our- 
selves, for self-preservation, self-protection and the 
promotion of our own happiness are the first, the 
primal and most imperative laws of nature as well as 
nations. Thus common humanity would require one 
nation to sell breadstuff's to another nation whose in- 
habitants were famishing for the want of it, but if we 
are ourselves in danger of a famine, we are not so 
bound to sell, because the law of self-preservation re- 
quires and justifies us in providing for our own safety 
before we lend a helping hand to others. Self-pres- 
ervation is as much the duty of a nation as of an indi- 
vidual; if a ruffian or a wanton were to attempt to 
rob a female of her chastity by force, she would be 
justified by the law of nature and of nations in stab- 
bing the villain to the heart with a poniard held in 
her own good right hand, to preserve her honor. 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 199 

A nation should be as jealous of its honor as a 
maiden of her purity ; and, hence, if a nation is wan- 
tonly insulted by another nation, the insulted nation 
has the undoubted right to punish the aggressor by 
force, even the force of war if necessary. A nation 
to preserve itself may take the most extreme measures 
if unavoidable necessity requires it. She may take 
and convert to her own use the private property of 
her own citizens. She may compel her citizens to 
take up arms and fight in her defense. She may for 
the time being suspend the operation of the power of 
the civil magistrate and declare that martial law 
shall prevail to the exclusion of the municipal law. 
In short, the principle of inevitable necessity for a 
nation's own preservation is a power superior to all 
other considerations to which every other human 
power must yield. Her power is plenary and limited 
only by the landmark that she cannot in accordance 
with the law of nature and of nations destroy her- 
self. She has not the right to commit national sui- 
cide. 

For this reason, a sovereign or a government has 
no power to dismember the territory and grant it 
or any part of it away to another without the consent 
of the people who compose that nation. Hence, 
every sovereign and every government is bound to 
protect its own nation and its citizens. The citizen 
owes as a duty subjection to the government, and this 
duty being reciprocal, the nation owes to the citizen 
its protection. The one duty follows the other as a 
natural and inevitable consequence, as much as the 
laws of matter make effect to follow the cause, and 
is a principle as immutable as the laws of gravita- 



200 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

tion and planetary motion are governing principles 
in the plan of the universe. 

Besides its protection and preservation, every na- 
tion owes to itself its national perpetuity. It is 
bound to carry out nature's law in providing for its 
perpetual existence, for no nation in Christendom 
ever was formed upon any other plan. To this end 
it is under the most solemn obligation to its people to 
form and administer the best possible system of gov- 
ernment, under all the circumstances of the people 
and their surroundings which human wisdom, fore- 
sight and sagacity is capable to plan; for a good 
government, justly administered, will necessarily at- 
tract other people than their own native-born citizens 
to settle with them and become valuable to such na- 
tion as its cultivators and defenders, and it will also 
wed each citizen to his own country by the most 
sacred of all national ties, patriotism, and the love 
of one's own country, than which to the patriot's 
heart there can be no stronger love or more ardent 
attachment. A country, to be a nation, must provide 
itself with inhabitants; and it is curious to consider 
the means adopted by the founders of the Roman 
Empire for its own perpetuation. We are told by 
one class of historians that Rome was founded by a 
body of men who were robbers and associated to- 
gether for the mere purposes of robbery, piracy and 
plunder. Other historians tell us that they were the 
soldiers of old King Priam who fled from the famous 
city of ancient Troy after the sack and destruction 
of that noted town by the Greeks, for the forcible 
abduction of Helen, a beautiful Grecian princess by 
Paris, the son of old King Priam. Be this as it may, 




OR.LO JAY HAMLIN 
Age 22 

Made from a portrait painted by himself. 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 201 

the early Romans found themselves a body of men 
building up a new city and forming a new nation 
without wives to perpetuate them by a legitimate pos- 
terity. They resorted to the following ruse: They 
persuaded the Sabine people, who were their neigh- 
bors, to make a grand religious feast, at which they 
would themselves assist, and invite all their maidens 
and unmarried women to attend and take a chief part 
in the ceremonies. To this the Sabines readily 
agreed. When the people were assembled and the 
young maidens and single women formed in proces- 
sion, the Romans, being all present, at a given signal 
rushed upon the procession and each man forcibly 
seizing a maid carried her off to the Roman city and 
compelled her to become his wife. The Sabine men 
resented the injury and declared war against the 
Romans. When the two armies commenced their bat- 
tle, the Sabine women who had been carried off by 
the Romans rushed in between the combatants, de- 
vised a parley and persuaded the Sabine army to 
compromise and let them live with their .Roman hus- 
bands as lawful wives, which was agreed to, the 
women remaining faithful and true wives ever after. 
Singular as it may now seem to us, writers on na- 
tional law assert that act of the Romans, historically 
called " the rape or robbery of the Sabine women," 
was justified by the law of nature and of nations, as 
it was the result of an inevitable necessity, because 
without wives, the new Roman city could never have 
become the nucleus of a new nation, but the original 
founders must necessarily soon have become extinct. 
Whatever modern casuists may think of this sum- 
mary way of providing for a nation's own perpetua- 



202 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

tion, it would seem to be justified on the principle of 
unavoidable necessity. I am happy to say that such 
necessity does not exist in our time, for with us, a 
wife can always be had for the asking, provided the 
happy swain precisely suits the capricious fancy of 
the fair Dulcinea to whom he makes the offer. 

A nation is bound to provide for its own perpetua- 
tion. It is also under a like obligation to form a good 
system of government and by the unquestioned duty 
of that government it is also obliged to form laws 
and municipal regulations suitable to the wants and 
necessities of the people and to cause them to be ad- 
ministered with justice and humanity. Every nation 
has its supreme or fundamental law which is para- 
mount to all others. In Europe it is not always a 
written constitution, but it is much the same in effect. 
In England it consists mainly in certain grants or 
charters from the sovereign to the people, guarantee- 
ing certain rights and privileges to the people which 
neither the king nor the government have any right 
to deny or to do any political act calculated to sub- 
vert or gainsay, for they are the fundamental laws 
and guarantee constitutional liberty to the people. 
However, some governments are absolute monarchies, 
in which the king alone holds the reins of govern- 
ment, but even then the people hold him to his own 
decrees and to the usages of former monarchs, his 
predecessors in power, which to that king and his peo- 
ple is the fundamental law. The absolute monarch 
assumes the government as a trustee for the benefit 
of his subjects and if he as such trustee usurps powers 
inconsistent with the rights and liberties of his sub- 
jects or so administers the government as to oppress 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 203 

and tyrannize over them, the people have the natural 
right to rise up in rebellion against him and over- 
throw his government ; for this right is inherent with 
the people. But they may not lawfully take up arms 
against him on every fanciful occasion. They should 
bear with him so long as forbearance is a virtue and 
only dethrone him for a gross and wanton violation 
of the laws of nature and natural justice. It is al- 
ways better to bear many and great political evils 
and thus keep up a regularly constituted government 
than to unsettle the foundations of society by civil 
war. A fickle and changeful people cannot long be 
prosperous. For example, the Athenians ruined 
their country and destroyed themselves as a nation 
by their restlessness in too frequent changes of their 
system of government. Other nations should take 
warning by their unhappy example. 

To attack the constitution of a State is a crime 
against civilized society and should be punished with 
becoming severity. The people have the undoubted 
right to change their fundamental law by constitu- 
tional means, but to attack and destroy it and conse- 
quently the government which is founded upon its 
basis is a crime of the deepest dye and meets the se- 
verest reprehension of all who love constitutional 
liberty. 

How may the fundamental law be changed? The 
answer is not by a disaffected faction or minority, 
but by the free action of a fairly expressed majority 
of the people of the nation. This is so understood 
by all civilized nations. 

But the fundamental law may require more than a 
mere numerical majority for such changes, as in the 



204 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

United States. In that case the constitutional ma- 
jority must be obtained to effect such change, but a 
constitution providing that it never shall be changed 
would be a subversion of the natural rights of the 
citizens, and I apprehend, in that respect, void. 

This attempt to make a constitution and laws per- 
petual was at one time tried by a celebrated Grecian 
ruler who after consulting an oracle at the temple of 
Delphi, caused his people to take an oath that they 
would not change his laws until his return. Then 
feigning to absent himself on a journey, he expatri- 
ated himself and never returned, but the fickle people 
soon found means to make another change. 

But any change of the fundamental law must be 
by constitutional means and not by factional means, 
for any attempt to change it by other than legal 
means would clearly be rebellion or revolution, as 
the case may be. 

Now, as every nation is of itself free and indepen- 
dent of all other nations, it has the undoubted right 
to manage its own affairs both of internal and ex- 
ternal policy in its own way, without any interfer- 
ence from any other power. This necessarily follows 
from the fact that every State acts as a free moral 
person, who by the law of nature is both free and 
independent. If, therefore, a nation chooses any 
particular policy of government with regard to itself, 
no other nation has a right to interfere with that 
policy, whether it relates to commerce, agriculture, 
manufacture or any internal law regulating the home 
policy of that nation; and even if a nation is so un- 
happy as to become involved in a civil war between 
its own citizens, no other nation has, strictly, the 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 205 

right to interfere with them, although to subserve 
the cause of humanity and human liberty, another na- 
tion may and sometimes does lend its services by 
adopting that side of the cause which justice would 
seem to require them to assist. But if a nation 
should assist a tyrant or an oppressor, or a people 
who were fighting in a clearly unjust and conse- 
quently wicked cause, that nation so assuming the 
cause of injustice would receive the universal con- 
demnation of all other civilized nations. 

It is held to be the duty of every nation to foster 
commerce both internal and external. Commerce is 
one of the most potent agents in civilization and 
human progress, for to that we owe as well a mutual 
and indispensable exchange of product and commod- 
ities, as our improvements in the arts, manufactures 
and navigation, with all the refinements and improve- 
ments suggested by a free and friendly interchange of 
thoughts, observations and reflections in relation to 
science and mental culture and improvement in its 
multifarious phases. For instance, we interchange 
articles of manufacture, books upon all subjects, with 
specimens of painting, statuary, architecture and 
whatever belongs to the vast range of the arts, to the 
mutual benefit and improvement of the nations mak- 
ing such exchange. We also learn, by comparing the 
different systems of government and laws of other 
nations with our own, all that is to be learned by the 
practical workings of other systems, and how to cor- 
rect our own. 

But each nation, being independent of all others, 
may enlarge or restrict its own commerce, as its duty 
to itself and its own interests may require. It may 



206 LIFE AND WOEKS OF 

encourage exportation or restrict or prohibit it. It 
may do the same of importation. It may subject 
either, by a uniform law to a tax, commonly called 
imposts, tariff or revenue duty ; and this without any 
other nation having the right to interfere with it on 
that account. Their own policy of imposts should 
always be regulated according to the dictates of sound 
policy of the governments so making such regulations ; 
and in accordance with the present political maxim 
of the United States upon the tariff question, this 
takes the ground of a revenue to be assessed precisely 
so as to cover the necessary expenditures of the gov- 
ernment in times of peace, with incidental protection 
to domestic manufactures. And I may add that I 
shall give you no information when I say that the peo- 
ple are divided into two parties upon this question, 
the one contending for the principle of the maxim 
before stated, and the other that it would be wise to 
lay- a restrictive tariff for the express purpose of 
building up and fostering our own manufactures. 
For myself, I adhere to the maxim referred to. 

Though every nation is truly independent of all 
others, yet in Europe a great political principle called 
the balance of power among nations was started 
about the beginning of the present century by that 
justly celebrated and far-seeing English statesman, 
William Pitt, then Prime Minister of England. This 
principle has, I believe, now become a political maxim 
among the nations of Europe. It assumes the ground 
that unless a proper balance of power is kept up 
among nations, there would be great danger; that a 
nation, if it became powerful by the conquest or an- 
nexation of the territories of other nations, would 






ORLO JAY HAMLIN 207 

be dangerous to its neighbors, who if small and weak 
might easily be conquered or ( so to speak ) swallowed 
up by the more powerful nation, and thus the integ- 
rity or inviolability of natural independence would 
be totally destroyed. To guard against such a con- 
tingency, the principle of the balance of power has 
been asserted and is now sought to be maintained by 
most European States; and hence, the practice of 
national alliances for some occasional purpose of 
putting or keeping down some great national power, 
as was the case in the alliance against France in the 
time of Napoleon the First. 

I believe it is a truth that the Christian religion 
is the strongest pillar ever erected in support of a 
civilized government, and hence it is declared by na- 
tional law writers that it is the duty of every good 
government to foster and protect religion as one of 
the surest safeguards to its safety and prosperity. 
But it is now understood that no sovereign or govern- 
ment has the right to interfere in matters of con- 
science. Religion should be protected and encour- 
aged, leaving the subject free to choose for himself 
that kind of theology or persuasion resulting from the 
convictions of his own conscience. Hence the maxim 
of the American government of perfect toleration to 
all religious denominations so far as they do not in- 
terfere with public virtue and general good morals. 
In former times, religion in the Old World was made 
or attempted to be made a regulation of state, the 
sovereign dictating the kind of religion that should 
be adapted to his people and proscribing and perse- 
cuting all other denominations, as in Spain and some- 
times in other States. But this assumption of power 



208 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

over the consciences of men is so rank a violation of 
personal liberty that it never has been successfully 
carried out and the theory has been abandoned in 
most European States as sovereigns and governments 
find that men will never submit to be dictated to in a 
matter which solely relates to their souls' eternal wel- 
fare to be settled between themselves and their God. 
Neither sovereigns nor people will now be dictated 
to by prelates or religious dignitaries, and the doc- 
trine once asserted by a stickler for church authority, 
" that a priest is as much superior to a common man 
as a man is superior to a beast/' at this time finds 
no advocates and is abhorrent to the ideas of modern 
civilization. 

Charity is among the most exalted of all Christian 
virtues, and the want of true Christian charity was 
a marked characteristic of the Middle Ages; for his- 
tory tells us that at the time when Charlemagne, a 
Christian emperor of western Europe, was attempt- 
ing to establish his religious creed in the West by 
political power, the Sultan of Turkey was ravaging 
the country from east to west with fire, ruin and 
desolation for the propagation of the creed of Mo- 
hammed. As these creeds are diametrically opposed, 
they cannot both be right, and hence the folly of mak- 
ing religion the subject of human authority to be 
dictated by royal or governmental power. The duty 
of a good government is simply to protect religion 
and its observances, leaving the human conscience 
perfectly free as to its choice in matters of theology. 

It is the duty of a nation to provide for the educa- 
tion of its people by fostering and sustaining institu- 
tions of learning and patronizing the arts. Edu- 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 209 

cation is the lever of incalculable power which 
raises and elevates human society from the condition 
of the mere unintellectual animal, groveling in ignor- 
ance, superstition and degradation, to the exalted 
condition of civilized, cultivated and enlightened 
men and women, with such aspirations of the human 
heart for virtue, moral excellence, refinement and 
the perfection of their nature as renders them mas- 
ters of the material world and places them but one 
degree lower in the scale of intellect and power than 
the angels who are permitted to surround the throne 
of the Almighty. Institutions of learning are the 
fulcrums on which the mighty lever rests and, there- 
fore, it is the unquestionable duty of every nation to 
encourage and maintain such institutions by every 
means necessary to accomplish so valued a purpose. 
They are the great reservoirs from which the streams 
of intellect constantly flow. If these great fountains 
are stopped, the current of intellect must cease to 
flow and man must die intellectually, and, intellec- 
tually dead, he ceases to rank above the brute. 

Let a nation educate its people and that nation at 
once becomes great and powerful, intellectually, 
morally, physically and politically. It is great in 
agriculture, in the arts, in wealth, in commerce and 
in national prowess. In every way it is both great 
and powerful. This is proven by contrasting the con- 
dition of any civilized nation with that of a bar- 
barous or uncivilized nation. For instance, the 
people of the Untited States as compared with a 
nation of the early aboriginal North American In- 
dians. 

Thus we see that education or mental culture is the 



210 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

very sun of civilization, which radiates and reflects 
the light of intellect upon all who are so happy as 
to come under its influence. It is, therefore, the duty 
of a nation to remove every cloud of obstruction from 
that bright shining sun and keep it forever illuminat- 
ing its people. 

It is a rule that it is the duty and interest of 
every nation to live on terms of peace with neighbor- 
ing nations, but, sad as the reflection is, from the 
earliest history of the human race this has not at 
any one time long been done. War with all its deadly 
catalogue of suffering and of evil is the direct oppo- 
site of peace, a condition most to be avoided, most to 
be dreaded as a mighty scourge of the human family, 
but which seems inevitable to our imperfect condi- 
tion on earth. Indeed, we read that before this earth 
was peopled war existed in Heaven between the wicked 
and the holy angels of even that happy region, and 
sure it is that this scourge of mankind has ravaged 
our race from the earliest ages of antiquity and prob- 
ably will continue to sweep its destructive besom 
over this otherwise fair footstep of the Almighty, until 
the ushering in of the millennial dawn. 

Nations, like individuals, are actuated by passions, 
by prejudices, by unwarrantable ambition as well as 
the all-pervading influence of self-interest, and hence 
disputes will often arise between them. How are 
national differences to be settled? We all remember 
the first great principle in regard to national exist- 
ence. That each is by nature absolutely indepen- 
dent of all the others, and, consequently, acknowledges 
no superior. As a logical sequence, nations have no 
common tribunal to whom they are willing to refer 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 211 

their questions in dispute; each being equal and to- 
tally independent, will allow no other nation to judge 
its cause. But to avoid, if possible, the horrors of 
war and bloodshed, nations have, by common consent, 
adopted several modes of adjusting international 
controversies without a resort to the force of 
arms. 

First, Diplomacy, by which the difficulty is sought 
to be solved by reason, by argument, by reference to 
the law of nations and by precedents theretofore well 
established, through the medium of ambassadors or 
ministers plenipotentiary, specially appointed for 
that purpose. This mode in modern times is very 
often successful and is a large step in human progress 
as compared with more ancient times. If two na- 
tions find the question cannot be amicably settled by 
this mode, it is now quite usual for a third and neu- 
tral power, friendly to both the contending nations, 
to offer to act as mediator. The mediator, if ac- 
cepted, does not decide the questions in dispute, but 
simply suggests a mode of accommodation upon the 
principle that one of the contesting nations has a per- 
fect right or that the question being doubtful, a com- 
promise is proposed based on the ground of mutual 
concessions. This mode in Europe is often success- 
ful. But for reasons growing out of our peculiar 
condition as a republican form of government, the 
United States has never consented to this mode of 
adjustment, In Europe, also exists the mode of ar- 
bitrament and that of a congress or convention of 
States, which mode often succeeds in the Old World, 
but is never resorted to in the new. The policy of 
our government has ever been never to be entangled 



212 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

by foreign alliances or submit to foreign interven- 
tion. However, most questions of difference are now 
happily settled by treaties. 

If nations cannot settle their differences by any 
of the modes referred to, then war is the ultimate 
resort. It may be denned to be that condition in 
which a nation prosecutes its rights by force. It is 
usually styled either justifiable or defensive war. 
An unjustifiable war would well merit the universal 
reprehension of mankind. I apprehend that a war 
waged solely to gratify an unwarrantable ambition 
for either personal or national aggrandizement or 
solely for the purpose of conquest would be clearly 
unjustifiable, and that a nation seeking conquest 
solely for aggrandizement would be no better than a 
robber. A war is now looked upon as justifiable for 
the purpose of enforcing any of the perfect rights be- 
longing to a nation as against another nation, refus- 
ing to concede that right — a perfect right being a 
right resulting from the laws of nature, or some right 
universally acknowledged by the usages of civilized 
nations or secured by treaty. To deny and refuse 
any of these rights is a justifiable cause of war. If 
any of the perfect rights of a nation are refused, the 
offending nation should first be applied to to make 
suitable reparation for the injury; if this is denied, 
the result is usually war, which is commonly declared 
in form by the war-making power. Formerly a her- 
ald was sent to the offending nation to announce the 
declaration of war. Now it is done either by simple 
proclamation from the executive, or by an act of the 
parliamentary or legislative power. When two na- 
tions are engaged in war, they are called belligerents, 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 213 

each party by that term being entitled to the benefit 
of all common, customary and humane rules now 
acknowledged by the rules of war in the prosecution 
of a war by civilized nations, such as respect for 
women and children, exchange of prisoners, respect 
for hospitals and the numerous rules pertaining to 
the conduct of war. 

Who, as parties at war, are entitled to the rights 
of belligerents, is sometimes a mooted question. For 
example, is a State in rebellion a lawful belligerent? 
My answer would be, if the outbreak be barely an in- 
surrection or an uprising of a factional portion of 
the people in a State, such insurrection would not 
entitle the revolting party to the rights of a belligerent 
power; but if the insurrection assumes the propor- 
tions of a general uprising of the people in a State, 
it may properly be called a revolution and hence a 
belligerent.- Such a doctrine in my judgment accords 
with sound principles of humanity and modern civil- 
ized human progress. 

What instruments in warfare may lawfully be used? 
We may take any means to destroy, disable or weaken 
our enemy in our power, and we may take any means 
to prevent our enemy 's destroying or weakening us. 
Thus we may kill an enemy in open warfare, take 
him prisoner, or cut off the means of his subsistence 
so as to reduce him to a condition incapable to do us 
harm. But we may not lawfully resort to poison or 
assassination to take off an enemy. This would be 
for many reasons abhorrent to modern ideas of civil- 
ized warfare. 

A just war is undertaken either to obtain repara- 
tion for an injury sustained, to secure and enforce 



214 LIFE AND WOKKS OF 

a right, or to punish the wrongdoer for his fault, or 
it may be for all these purposes combined. 

That nation which assails another carries on an 
offensive war, while the nation so attacked, if it re- 
sorts to war in return, is said to wage a defensive 
war. This question is quite immaterial compared 
with that of whether the war is justifiable and neces- 
sary, or whether is it unnecessary and waged for an 
unjustifiable purpose. The latter are the questions 
for which nations at war are arranged and tried be- 
fore the great tribunal of a civilized world. 

In Europe, the preliminaries of a peace are often 
concluded by the sovereigns of the respective bellig- 
erents, but in this country a peace is arranged with 
a foreign power, by commissioners appointed for that 
purpose, or by special ministers plenipotentiary. 

I shall speak, in conclusion, of the wealth and glory 
of a nation. A nation's wealth consists in the extent 
of its domain or territory, the richness and produc- 
tiveness of the soil of that territory, the extent of 
seaboard with commodious harbors to facilitate ex- 
ternal and foreign commerce, its rivers and lakes as 
the channels for internal commerce, as also its arti- 
ficial canals, railroads and common roads, spread like 
a network throughout the land to facilitate communi- 
cation, interlacing and binding its citizens together 
by one common bond of interest and mutual conven- 
ience. It also consists in its mines, minerals and 
manufactures, with the agricultural products of its 
farming industry. It is made up, moreover, by the 
private wealth of its industrious citizens, for a na- 
tion or well-conducted government may always com- 
mand to a large extent the private wealth of its own 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 215 

people, to be used for strictly national purposes and 
the defense of its own domain. It is largely aug- 
mented by the number and intelligence of its inhabi- 
tants who are useful for its defense in times of war 
and augment its power in times of peace. A wealthy 
nation is comparatively a powerful nation. It can 
raise armies and equip navies and sustain both by a 
moderate tax upon a wealthy and flourishing people. 
It must, therefore, ever be respected among the family 
of nations as a power not to be insulted with impunity 
or one whose rights may lightly be tampered with. 
If it is wealthy in great resources and numerous in 
an intelligent population, it is and may ever remain 
independent in and of itself of all other nations and 
peoples of the earth. What more can add to human 
or national greatness except individual valor, indi- 
vidual preeminence and national glory? 

Valor is that quality or faculty of the mind which 
enables the individual to accomplish a purpose fixed 
upon and determined by the will, with firmness, calm- 
ness and composure without regard to personal 
danger. It is that quality of mind which to a nation 
of people is what the motive power is to motion. 
Without the motive power there would be no motion. 
Without individual valor a nation would be supine. 
It is the life blood of a nation which circulates 
through every member of society and impels to ac- 
complish such wondrous strides in human progress 
and civilization as are astonishing to contemplate. 

This quality of human daring preeminently belongs 
to the Anglo-Saxon race and has made them, for 
centuries, the most enterprising, persistent and suc- 
cessful people in the world. 



216 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

It is a quality without which no people can be 
eminently prosperous and successful. The self-re- 
liant and resolutely determined backwoodsman who 
builds his cabin in an untenanted wilderness resolved 
to pay for and clear up a farm by his own industry 
and make for himself and family an independent 
home, shows proportionally as much valor or mental 
and physical courage as the hero who wins his fame 
in the blood-stained battlefield. Individual valor is 
the mainspring which impels a nation to rely upon it- 
self and covers its people with national glory. The 
individual glory of one man once saved the Swiss 
army and the Swiss nation. The patriotism of a 
single woman once saved the people of the city of 
Rome from doomed destruction. The individual 
valor of a Bruce and a Wallace once saved their 
country from national bondage, and but for the sa- 
gacity, the wisdom, the prudence and the valor of a 
Washington, this country might now have been an 
appendage of the British crown. 

A nation's glory is made up of the intelligence of 
the people, their courage and valor in military enter- 
prise, their preeminent distinction as civilians and 
statesmen, their great inventors and great discoverers, 
their great artists, orators, historians, poets and men 
of science and above all, their patriotic love of coun- 
try which wells up in their hearts with overflowing 
zeal for their fatherland or the land of their adopted 
homes, the sacred love of which to them is only sec- 
ond to the love of their own immortal souls. Who, 
that has a human heart to feel the great emotions of 
an immortal spirit and an intelligence which grasps 
the material world and penetrates the absorbing mys- 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 217 

teries of nature's laws imprinted upon matter by an 
All-wise and Almighty Creator, who can alike scan 
the laws of universe and the strange workings of a 
Godlike mind, does not realize that his heart throbs 
more quickly and his pulse beats with redoubled 
energy when he hears pronounced the sacred name of 
country, my own, my happy native land? That coun- 
try whose institutions are laid both deep and broad 
on a political constitution which eminently secures 
to all classes of citizens freedom of conscience, free- 
dom of political action, perfect equality of rights and 
uncompromising justice to all; that country which 
ever receives and protects the oppressed of all na- 
tions and guarantees to every individual the free pur- 
suit of his own " true and substantial happiness " ; 
that country, the heroic valor of whose citizens, whose 
military prowess in times of war and patient uncon- 
querable industry in times of peace, has given it a 
position in the grand scale of nations which is excelled 
by none. 

Such are the aspirations of the patriot's heart, that 
the sacred names of home and country to him are 
synonyms; as well would he defend the one from ag- 
gression as the other, by exposing his life for their 
defense or their rescue. Should a nation of patriots 
be assailed by an enemy, that enemy would find its 
soil defended by an assembled mass of devoted pa- 
triots exposing their breasts, if necessary, to the as- 
sault of the bayonets of that enemy, thus protecting 
their bleeding country by sacrificing themselves 
rather than their country be imperiled. 

Why is it that a few square yards of cloth or a bare 
bit of bunting with the figures of an eagle and the 



218 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

Stars and Stripes traced upon it, when raised aloft 
in the air and spread to the breeze, electrifies and in- 
spires a nation of people with an emotional ardor 
the most intense, and spontaneously is raised the wel- 
come shout of millions? Because that flag is the em- 
blem which represents a nation's honor and its glory. 
Why, when our country's flag was stricken down at 
Fort Sumter, did a simultaneous burst of indignation 
swell and upheave the swaying mass of seventeen mil- 
lions of patriotic hearts, who cried aloud as with one 
voice, " To the rescue " ? Because the emblem of our 
country's honor and its glory had been insulted, and 
was sought to be made to trail in the dust in national 
dishonor and shame ! No patriot eye could brook the 
sight or ear could listen to the story without a flash 
from his indignant eye and the nerving of his arm 
with deathless energy to avenge the wrong and punish 
the aggressor for that stain upon our nation's honor. 

So will it ever be with a nation of patriots, and 
such, I trust in God, will ever be the national char- 
acter of Americans. 

Let us ever keep in mind that little band of heroes 
nestling among the mountains of the Alps, the Swit- 
zers, who have achieved and held by their patriotism, 
valor and courage, their freedom and national inde- 
pendence for centuries, while many of the surround- 
ing nations of Europe have been ground to the dust 
by the iron heel of a relentless despotism. 

Much of a nation's glory is made up of the fame 
of its individual citizens. Every nation has its 
heroes, its sages and its greatly distinguished men. 
The history of every nation shows its conspicuous 
eras, crowned by the advent of some more or less 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 219 

preeminently distinguished names, which mark an 
epoch in a nation's progress. What would England 
be without the name and fame of a Newton and 
Bacon, a Shakespeare, a Marlborough and a Welling- 
ton to grace, emblazon and embellish the pages of 
her history? What the history of France without a 
Charlemagne and a Napoleon? Strike out these 
names and you erase its military glory. 

A nation whose citizens are patriots and have es- 
tablished a reputation throughout the world for hero- 
ism and valor will never be insulted with impunity 
or sought to be oppressed or intimidated by any other 
nation, because they possess a power of self-defense 
that no other nation will lightly seek to encounter. 
A nation of valorous heroes present to the world a 
breastwork of strength that is irresistible and im- 
penetrable. 

Our nation's glory is the fame of the heroes of the 
Revolution of '76 and the two subsequent wars with 
England and with Mexico ; the civic fame, a Fulton, 
a Franklin and Morse, the fame of a Clay and a Web- 
ster as master orators is coextensive with the English 
language. Clay was our American Demosthenes 
and Webster our Cicero. Their imperishable fame 
forms a large part of the sum of our nation's glory. 
Alexander the Great conquered the world to gratify 
his personal ambition. Napoleon the First desolated 
Europe to aggrandize France ; but our " one " Wash- 
ington crowned the acme of human greatness by 
founding a republic in the hearts of the American 
people on the only one true principle of free self-gov- 
ernment. As his fame and his glory are imperishable, 
so may our national fame and glory be perpetual. 



THE WOMAN'S EIGHTS AND SUFFRAGE 
QUESTION 

YEAE 1855 

FIRST. It is freely admitted that by the laws of 
nature, woman is the equal of man, and en- 
dowed with the same natural rights to life, lib- 
erty, property and the pursuit of her own happi- 
ness. 

Second. That although by nature she is naturally 
his equal as to her inherent personal rights, yet na- 
ture has given to man, as a rule, both physical and 
mental superiority of strength, although to this, as 
to all general rules, there are some exceptions; as 
nature has evidently given to some women more phys- 
ical strength than to some men; and it has given to 
some women more intellectual strength than to some 
men. 

Third. Though the natural personal rights of 
women are the same as the natural personal rights 
of men; yet the right to suffrage is not a personal 
but a political right or privilege, and therefore can 
only be enjoyed by those upon whom the rules or 
laws of the communities or society have conferred it. 
The right of suffrage is a political right, and not a 
right conferred by God or the laws of nature as evi- 
denced by the prehistoric condition of the human 
family; as history does not prove that it ever has 

220 



OKLO JAY HAMLIN 221 

been heretofore, as a rule, either claimed or exercised 
by women. Nor is there any direct law in the Bible 
either recognizing it or enforcing it. 

As an illustration : If a large number of persons, 
both male and female, were to take possession of an 
uninhabited island in the possession of, or owned by 
no nation or people having the right to exercise the 
law, making powers of government over it or its in- 
habitants, called the right of eminent domain, and 
the new settlers or proposed inhabitants voluntarily 
chose to form a government for themselves, and select 
the republican form, commonly called the democratic 
form, of government, the right of females to vote 
would entirely depend upon the organic laws which 
that new community chose to adopt for themselves. 
They could frame the organic law, or original rule, 
so as to admit female suffrage, or they could limit it 
only to man, and to men of a certain age as that com- 
munity should decide, without violating any law of 
nature or natural right, and when that law or rule 
was adopted it would become the fundamental law 
of that community on the question of suffrage, and 
could not be changed except by a new organic and 
fundamental law. Such has been the history and the 
practice of all nations that have heretofore existed 
upon the earth among countless people from the 
Creation down to our time, and this rule I hold to 
be our universal canon of civilized society. 

Fourth. Nature has established its own universal 
laws and those laws can never be violated with im- 
punity. 

Fifth. Woman was made by nature to be the help- 
meet of man, and not as a separate isolated individual 



222 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

who will be always satisfied to live alone, separate 
and independent. 

Sixth. Nature has divided the human race, for 
purposes of its own, by sexes, and in that respect 
neither sex can transcend the bounds of nature, and 
take the place of the other, but must submit to the 
end of time to the law of their being. 

Seventh. Nature has assigned to each sex that 
position in life for which they are best, by their con- 
stituted capacity, adapted. 

Eighth. Thus nature unmistakeably indicates a 
division of the labors of life between them, man by 
his nature having more strength and power of en- 
durance as well as by the general conformation of his 
physical being is better calculated for the labors of 
the field and to attend to the outdoor affairs of life ; 
and woman by her effeminately molded physical for- 
mation seems designed to control the indoor affairs of 
life and govern the domestic household, she being by 
nature, as a rule, unfit for war, and in every way un- 
suited to the sterner duties which naturally evolve 
on man; thus nature clearly indicates a division of 
labors between the sexes, each to bear his or her own 
share of the burden. Thus the woman is a " help- 
meet," she looks to the indoor affairs, while the man 
takes care of the outdoor affairs of life. So it would 
seem that the barely being born in a civilized com- 
munity does not of itself confer the right of political 
citizenship. 

Great stress is laid by the Attorney General on the 
fact that St. Paul was relieved from the infliction of 
stripes and the scourge when before and in charge of 
the centurion, by declaring that he was born in the 






ORLO JAY HAMLIN 223 

City of Tarsus, and therefore a Roman citizen. And 
why was he a Roman citizen? Surely not simply be- 
cause he was born in the City of Tarsus, any more 
than if he had been born in any other city of Judea, 
for the whole of Judea was under Roman authority ; 
but for the sole reason that the government of Rome 
had declared Tarsus to be a free city and consequently 
by the laws of Rome all the inhabitants of that city 
were under their laws citizens of Rome. Hence it 
was not the isolated fact of the domicil of birth of 
St. Paul, but the fact that, by the Roman law Tarsus 
being declared a free city, the status or condition of 
St. Paul as to his citizenship and consequently the 
capacity of his political right was that he was (not 
as a natural or inherent right, but as a grant derived 
from the sovereign power of the Roman government 
and in virtue of such grant) a Roman citizen and 
therefore protected from the scourge. Had St. Paul 
been born in any other city of Judea not declared 
a free city, he could never have claimed the privilege 
of Roman citizenship, although still having the pro- 
tection of the Roman government. 

This illustration of St. Paul's case clearly proves 
that a man owed his citizenship under the Roman 
authority not to the accident of birth alone, but to 
the grant of confession from the government, to which 
alone he owed his political right of citizenship. It 
necessarily follows that under the Roman system a 
man was a citizen or not a citizen, as he was so made 
by the laws of the government. 

So I believe is a man entitled to the plenary rights 
of political citizenship or not, according to his status 
by the Constitution of the United States, and would 



224 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

only be born to the inheritance of such rights derived 
from the laws of nature as existed between parent 
and child — the right to claim from its ancestors pro- 
tection and sustenance — but it would have no polit- 
ical right, for there would be no government to grant 
such or from which they could be derived. Conse- 
quently political rights are not derived from the laws 
of nature, but from the laws of society; and hence 
if derived from the laws of society, just such rights 
as those laws grant are to be enjoyed and no other; 
and if those laws and the political constitution upon 
which they are founded have made distinctions in fix- 
ing the status of each individual and surrounding 
him or her by certain limitations or restriction in the 
enjoyment of their political condition in society, each 
individual is bound by such restrictions and limita- 
tions and cannot if the Constitution and law are not 
violated depart from or go beyond the grant con- 
ferred. 

Now, to apply the rule of political status in society, 
every white female born in the United States is born 
to the same natural rights that belong to the male, 
but the status of the female as to her political rights 
is abridged as compared with the male. She may not 
vote nor hold office, and hence, though a citizen in a 
limited sense of the term, she is not a citizen in its 
full and permanent signification. She is a citizen so 
far as her civil rights are concerned, but not a citizen 
in the full political sense of the term, and by the laws 
of most if not all civilized countries, persons called 
minors are placed under the same restrictions as to 
their political rights, for the infant male has no more 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 225 

political right until he reaches his majority than the 
female minor. This is not owing to the laws of na- 
ture withholding any natural right, but to the condi- 
tion in which the laws of society have placed them. 



AKE FREE COLORED PERSONS BORN IN 
THE UNITED STATES CITIZENS WITHIN 
THE MEANING OF THE CONSTITUTION 
OF THE UNITED STATES? ATTORNEY 
GENERAL BATES SAYS THEY ARE 

CRITICISMS 

IF they are, then have all that portion of the in- 
habitants of the country who have lived since the 
adoption of the Federal Constitution of 1787 until 
this time, a period of seventy-five years, been unjustly 
unfranchised and denationalized of their true citizen- 
ship, at least so in Pennsylvania, all the Southern 
States and nearly all of the other States, because in 
Pennsylvania and elsewhere there is a constitutional 
prohibition against any other than white persons 
from the exercise of the elective franchise; if the 
Constitution of the United States makes them citi- 
zens and the state constitutions declare them inca- 
pable of voting, the state constitutions are so far re- 
pugnant to the federal Constitution, and as the 
United States' Constitution is paramount, the state 
constitutions are void as to the prohibition. 

It is alleged by the advocate for free colored citi- 
zenship " that every person born in the United States, 
is at the moment of his birth prima facie a citizen " ; 
he making this assertion and supporting it by the 
argument used. Those who assert it seem either to 
forget or ignore the great political principle which 

226 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 227 

is the formation of all of our social rights and prin- 
ciples as derived from the condition of a civilized 
government, to wit, that every human heing born 
within a civilized government takes his or her status 
or condition in society precisely in accordance with 
the laws, constitution of government and acknowl- 
edged usage of that society in which he is born to 
live and in no other way. 

The child when born has certain natural rights de- 
rived from the divine laws and the laws of nature 
such as life, the use of the elements of air, earth and 
water, and sustenance to be furnished by the parents 
as a duty; but the political right of citizenship de- 
pends not upon the natural or divine law, but upon 
the constitution and governmental laws of the society 
m which he is born. If this were not true, why is it 
that constitutions and laws of society have ever re- 
stricted and abridged the rights of citizens in a polit- 
ical point of view? If a natural right, why are not 
women and minors permitted to vote the same as an 
adult male? If a natural right, why not permit a 
woman to be President of the United States or the 
Judge of a Court? The human family in their social 
condition submit to and must ever submit to govern- 
ment; turn they from the laws of government, they 
are bound by the works of their own hands They 
have set boundaries to their political rights for them- 
selves and their posterity, just as a farmer sets boun- 
daries to his own farm, « thus far may I go and no 
farther." 

The very term of "citizen » would never have ex- 
isted but for the government and governmental laws 
tor to be a citizen always presupposes a government' 



228 ORLO JAY HAMLIN 

in other words, to be a citizen the individual must be 
a member of a body politic or political organization 
of society. In a state of nature no such body politic 
naturally exists, for government is always an artificial 
state of society; hence the child when born has no 
political right by the laws of nature. But by the 
artificial organization of society into government the 
child may have political rights derived from and safely 
dependent on the constitution of such political rights, 
and such only as the legalized condition of that society 
in which it is born has marked and granted as the 
charter of political liberty to all who enjoy the privi- 
leges of immunities. It is clear that if a child were 
born in a state of society where there was no political 
government, the child would not be born to any polit- 
ical rights. 



REMARKS ON THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTION 

Written simply for my own amusement and to take up my atten- 
tion for the time being. 

I do not claim to be either a statesman, a jurist or a con- 
stitutional lawyer, but the brief remarks I propose to make are 
made, so far as I am capable, in those views rather than as a 
politician or member of any political party. 



S 



REPRESENTATIVE APPORTIONMENT, ETC, 

! UB STANCE ) . " Representatives and direct taxes 



shall be apportioned according to their respective 
numbers which shall be determined by adding to the 
whole number of free persons (except Indians) three- 
fifths of all other persons." 

Remark 1. It may be asserted that the constitu- 
tional amendment emancipating all slaves will in- 
crease the number of Southern representatives, inas- 
much as those who were slaves before said amendment 
are now free persons and, therefore, instead of count- 
ing those who were slaves at three-fifths, they are now 
to be counted as units, or every former slave is to be 
counted the same as a free white person now. This 
construction would give the Southern States an in- 
crease of two-fifths of the former slaves in forming 
their ration or basis of representation. 

Remark 2. In my view, a constitution and its 
amendments are to be interpreted by the same general 
rules used in interpreting a statute, only a constitu- 
tion should be construed largely in favor of the liberty 
of the citizens, and with a view to carrying out the 

229 



230 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

republican principles on which our government was 
founded. It must also be construed by a reference to 
the history of the time at which it was framed, by the 
contemporaneous history of other nations, by the inter- 
pretation given by our United States Supreme Court 
and by the uniform usages and practice of our govern- 
ment from its inception to this time, to which may be 
added, a reference to the laws of nations, if neces- 
sary. 

Remark 3. I adopt the rule as to whether an act of 
Congress is constitutional, to ask : Does the Consti- 
tution clearly confer the power on Congress by an ex- 
press grant, to pass such an act? 

Remark 4. In judging of the constitutionality of a 
state law, whether the Constitution of the United 
States withholds or restricts the state legislature from 
passing such a law. 

Remark 5. I adopt the mode of reasonably strict 
construction in opposition to construction by implica- 
tion. 

Remark 6. Question. Does the emancipation 
amendment enlarge or increase the ratio or basis of 
Congressional representation in the Southern States? 

Remark 7. It may be said it does, because by the 
amendment all persons are now free and hence all 
must be counted as units instead of counting slaves 
at three-fifths as formerly. 

Remark 8. But what was the mischief sought to be 
remedied by the amendment? It was the evil of 
slavery, alone; and consequently the spirit of the 
amendment should act on the evil alone, viz, slavery, 
and not on the increase of ratio, for that was not the 
intention or evil sought to be remedied. 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 231 

Remark 9. Who asked the change? It was not 
the South, for the purpose of increasing their repre- 
sentation. It was the North who asked it, to destroy 
slavery. The South accepted it as a compromise and 
necessity to heal the effects of the war. The North 
did not propose the amendment to augment the polit- 
ical power of the South, but to destroy the cause of 
contention between the two sections. 

Remark 10. This question may arise hereafter, 
when the next census shall have been taken and a new 
apportionment is made of representatives by Congress. 
But it must remain as it was fixed after the census of 
1860 until the next census. The South can have no 
greater number of representatives for the present. It 
will be for Congress to settle this question and put 
the legal construction upon the effect the amendment 
shall produce when they make the next apportionment, 
although the United States Supreme Court may decide 
it ultimately, if it can be legally brought before that 
Court for review. 

Remark 11. The amendment necessarily makes 
the provision for the rendition of fugitive slaves nuga- 
tory. In effect, it is repealed. But does it affect the 
basis of representation? Had it been so intended, it 
should have so expressed its purpose. It should have 
stated whether the three-fifths rule was changed. It 
has not done so. The amendment was evidently 
intended to act on the idea of slavery, simply to abolish 
that and nothing more, unless by implication it shall 
be ruled that all the consequences which did or could 
legitimately flow from slavery should also be abolished 
and that the three-fifths rule is one of them. It seems 
to me that this implication is not necessary, because it 



232 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

can be abolished without changing the basis of repre- 
sentation, simply leaving the three-fifths rule as it is, 
on the principle of excluding two-fifths of all those 
that were slaves at the time the amendment was 
adopted. This, however, would be inconvenient and 
difficult in practice, for not very remotely it may be 
seen, that the children of those who had been slaves 
would be free from birth and the distinction must soon 
be lost. 

This would seem to prove the necessity, either for 
the construction that all former slaves are to be enu- 
merated now as free persons and, therefore, units in 
the basis of representation, or the Constitution should 
be further amended so as to avoid all misconstruction 
of the question, so as to settle the status of the former 
slave in relation to the representative basis ques- 
tion. 

Remark 12. I suppose that free persons of color 
have ever been taken as units for the basis of repre- 
sentation. 

Remark 13. It might be claimed by the South, that 
inasmuch as they have lost the value of their property 
in the slaves freed by the emancipation amendment, 
they ought as an equivalent to have at least the benefit 
of the two-fifths formerly excluded as a basis, counting 
them now as free persons and adding to their repre- 
sentation in that ratio. 

Remark 14. If the amendment changes the basis 
at all, it increases the Southern ratio. This could 
not have been intended, judging by the political his- 
tory of the times. 

Amendment. Neither slavery nor involuntary serv- 
itude, except as a punishment for crime, whereof the 






ORLO JAY HAMLIN 233 

party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within 
the United States or any place within their jurisdic- 
tion. 

Interpreting this amendment by the letter, the force 
of the idea would seem to strike upon the abolition of 
slavery as its sole object. Interpreting it by the 
spirit and intention, it would seem to expand its force 
upon the idea of abolishing slavery from the Constitu- 
tion and the institutions of our country. 

Judging it by its effect and consequences, it may, by 
implication, change the basis of representation. 

Which construction shall prevail? I incline to 
think that the letter with the spirit and intention 
ought to have the supremacy and that the Constitution 
remains as it was with regard to the ratio of represent- 
ation. 

In this conclusion I may be wrong, but " as a man 
thinketh, so is he." It is probable, however, that my 
construction based upon a first impression was not 
well considered. I, therefore, recall that decision and 
leave the question an open one. Further reflection 
inclines me to think that my first blush conclusion was 
wrong. 

As to the reason for originally adopting the three- 
fifths rule, I have seen it stated, though I can't now 
say where, that when the Constitution was framed, 
the Southerners claimed that as direct taxes would be 
levied on persons and real estate, they would have 
to pay much the largest share of the taxes, paying a 
capitation tax for their slaves, and being much larger 
landholders than the people of the Northern States, 
that, therefore, they ought to have an equivalent, 
which was conceded to them in giving the South the 



234 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

benefit of a three-fifths addition to the basis of repre- 
sentation for their slaves. 

TAXES, IMPOSTS, DUTIES 

" Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, 
duties, imposts and excises." " But all duties, im- 
posts and excises shall be uniform throughout the 
United States." 

" To regulate commerce with foreign nations and 
among the several States." 

" No capitation or other direct tax shall be laid, 
unless in proportion to the census or enumeration, 
etc." 

" No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported 
from any State, etc." 

" No State shall, without the consent of Congress, 
lay any imposts or duties on imposts or exports, except 
what may be absolutely necessary for executing its 
inspection law, etc." 

" Representatives and direct taxes shall be propor- 
tioned among the several States, etc." 

" But no preference shall be given by any regula- 
tion of commerce or revenue, to the ports of one State 
over those of another." 

" Tax," a rate or sum of money assessed on the per- 
son or property of a citizen by government for the 
use of the nation or State. 

" Impost," any tax or tribute imposed by authority, 
particularly a duty or tax laid by government on goods 
imported and paid or secured by the importer at the 
time of importation. 

" Duty," tax, toll, impost or customs, excise, any 
sum of money required by government to be paid on 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 235 

the importation, exportation or consumption of goods. 
An impost on lands or other real estate and on the 
stock of farmers is not called a duty but a direct tax. 

" Excise," an inlaid duty or impost laid on articles 
produced and consumed in a country, and also on 
licenses to deal in certain articles, commodities. In 
England on spirits, manufactured silks, linens, etc. 

" Tariff," a list or table of duties or customs to be 
paid on goods imported or exported. 

" Customs," duties imposed by law on goods im- 
ported or exported. 

" Export," to transport goods, articles or a commod- 
ity from one country or State or jurisdiction to an- 
other; either by water or land. We export from the 
United States to Europe and from the Northern States 
to South Carolina or Georgia. 

" Import," that which is brought from a country 
into another country or State. 

" Embargo," a prohibition to restrict ships from 
sailing into or out of port, generally for a limited 
period of time. 

" Compact," an agreement, a contract between par- 
ties generally applied to agreements between nations 
or States, a treaty ; thus the Constitution of the United 
States is a political contract between the States, a na- 
tional compact. 

LEGAL 

In England, all duties, imposts, taxes, etc., are 
usually denominated customs, and these are under- 
stood to be " a duty or subsidy paid by the merchant, 
at the quay, upon all imported as well as exported 
commodities, by authority of Parliament." 



236 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

By Act of 27 Jw. 3 ch. 13, customs or duties, etc., are 
levied according to a tariff of rates, usually ad 
valorem; of about twenty-seven pounds ten shillings 
on one hundred pounds, value on imposts, few articles 
pay a duty on exportation. Parliament may vary 
these duties from time to time. 

Excises are an inland imposition, laid upon the con- 
sumption or retail of a commodity. 

POLITICAL ECONOMY 

Taxation " is the transfer of a portion of the na- 
tional products from the hands of individuals to those 
of the government, for the purpose of meeting the 
public consumption or expenditure. " 

Taxation is a requisition by the government upon 
individuals for a portion of their products, or their 
value. 

Note. Both England and France have and do exer- 
cise the power of taxation on products imported as 
well as exported, agricultural as well as manufac- 
tured, articles of consumption as well as to traffic. 
Productions have sometimes been stimulated by those 
governments by premiums, and sometimes prohibited 
from export. 

LEGAL DECISIONS 

The power of laying duties or imposts on imports or 
exports is considered in the Constitution as a branch 
of the taxing power and not of the power to regulate 
commerce. Gibbons vs. Ogden, Wheat 201. 

" A tax on carriages is not a direct tax within the 
meaning of the Constitution, and the act of Congress 
of June 5th, 1794, laying a tax on carriages was con- 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 237 

stitutional. Hyton vs. United States, 3 Dall. 171. 

Can the Federal Government constitutionally levy 
an Export Duty, for instance, an export duty on 
cotton? 

The first paragraph of the Eighth Section, Article 
One, would seem plainly to grant by it, Congress may 
lay a " duty " as well as tax, impost and excise. The 
word duty clearly signifies a tax or toll on exports 
as well as imports on articles of consumption as well 
as production. Did the constitutional provision with 
regard to taxation stop here, there could be no doubt 
that Congress might exercise that power. But the 
Constitution would seem to be a compact between the 
whole people of the United States in the enlarged po- 
litical capacity as a nation of people, as one party to 
the compact, and the Government of the United States 
as body politic trusted with the legal powers of gov- 
ernment, as one other party to the compact, and with 
still another party to the compact, the separate States 
of the Union and the people thereof in their political 
capacity as bodies politic. 

The Constitution was framed on the principle of a 
grant of power by the people to the Federal govern- 
ment for certain legitimate purposes therein ex- 
pressed, acting within its own appropriate sphere, and 
withholding from it certain other powers which are 
conferred upon and guaranteed to the States or to the 
people at large. 

Besides these grants of powers, either to the general 
government or to the States, there are restrictions im- 
posed both upon the federal government and the 
States. 



U. S. TREASURY NOTES 

QUESTION : Are United States treasury notes, 
commonly called " legal tender notes," a law- 
ful tender for the payment of debts due from one 
citizen to another citizen of the United States? 

SYNOPSIS OF AN ARGUMENT 

A correct solution of this question must for its basis 
rest on a few cardinal original principles, by all ac- 
knowledged as fundamental principles of our Federal 
Government. 

1st. The Government of the United States is essen- 
tially, if not purely, a republican form of government, 
in its political and not in a party sense of the term. 

2d. All purely republican forms of government are 
established on the authority of the will of the people, 
constitutionally expressed by their votes at the polls, 
directly or indirectly sanctioning or rejecting either 
laws or constitution prepared for the political guid- 
ance of themselves or the governmental authorities. 

3d. Hence this government is emphatically styled 
" self-government." In other words, a system by 
which the people govern themselves. 

4th. This is done either by a direct vote, as for the 
adoption or rejection of a written constitution, or as in 
the law-making power, for a representative who is to 
act for the people in their collective capacity, through 
the medium of their political representatives or agents. 

238 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 239 

5th. In the United States, the source of all power, 
politically, flows from the will of the people, and the 
Constitution of the United States is their supreme law 
and only fundamental foundation for all political in- 
stitutions and laws governing their political conduct 
as a civilized nation. 



LECTURE ON TEMPERANCE 

A SYNOPSIS 

CIVILIZATION has brought with it many arti- 
ficial wants. These are excusable if they do 
no harm. 

All are the result of habit : tea, tobacco, coffee, etc. 
Were not the ancients as wise, happy and strong with- 
out them? 

The nature of man to seek the good and avoid the 
evil. Would a man clasp a venomous serpent, the 
smallpox, the cholera, the dram shop? 

Any habit once formed becomes a part of our being. 
Every man knows this. The use of any unnatural or 
artificial stimulant produces a depraved taste, a dis- 
eased appetite. 

These are the causes of intemperance. 

WHAT THE EFFECT? 

The young man tastes liquor, feels generous, his 
heart swells with pride and patriotism, steps to the 
bar and treats his friends. 

The young man goes step by step in intemperance 
until his hearth is desolate, etc. 

Beginning with every prospect of happiness, a 
competency left him by his father's industry, friends 
and health — cast into a drunkard's grave. 

THE REMEDY 

The human will. McDonald at Austerlitz. 

240 



PATRIOTIC ADDRESS 

LIBERTY is a costly treasure, the liberty of self- 
government cost our revolutionary ancestors a 
seven years' war of privation and suffering, with great 
loss of life and sacrifice of treasure ; but no one of the 
thirty millions of our people now think it cost too 
dear ; for a bare existence without the inestimable pos- 
session of liberty of conscience and of free political, 
governmental and social institutions is but the degra- 
dation of the slave. 

Liberty of the seas cost the people of the United 
States a two years' war with Great Britain in 1812, 
with much sacrifice of life, blood and treasure ; but it 
was richly paid for by a guaranty of freedom of the 
ocean to every ship laden with the freights of com- 
merce covered by the Stars and Stripes of the Ameri- 
can Union. 

Liberty securing the right of domain and the integ- 
rity of the government in the great scale of nations 
was an expensive draft upon the American people in 
the Mexican War; but its crowning effect was the 
extension of our domain from the broad Atlantic to the 
shores of the far-off Pacific Ocean and the recognition 
of the American Union as a first-class power among 
the families of nations. 



241 



PHYSICAL EDUCATION OR CULTURE 

1 CONSIDER it a matter of much surprise that 
although we have numerous lectures and essays 
delivered and published on educational subjects, many 
of which are the productions of great and well- 
schooled minds, yet I do not recollect to have ever seen 
one upon the subject of physical education. This sub- 
ject seems to have been much neglected by lecturers, 
as it has also been almost entirely overlooked by teach- 
ers, by parents and by the youth of our country. 

That a good physical constitution is the very root 
and foundation of great mental excellence as well as 
the only source of health, no one who reflects can 
doubt. All will admit that without health, there is 
little, if any, of human enjoyment; that those who 
have good physical constitution owe much of that 
blessing to nature, to their having had their parentage 
in a healthy stock. There is just as little room to 
doubt but that their bodily condition cannot be kept 
up healthfully and improved by the exercise of proper 
care and attention on the one hand, or gradually un- 
dermined and destroyed from the want of proper care 
and attention on the other hand. 

True, there are isolated cases of individuals of a 
precocious genius or intellect whose mental powers are 
entirely disproportionate to their physical frames, but 
these are exceptions to the rule. Those persons to 
whom nature has given so large a balance of mind 

242 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 243 

over body are but like a hot-house plant of the morn- 
ing. The bud grows and expands and it opens and it 
blooms in great beauty and freshness, making the air 
perfumed by its odors and ravishing the eye by its 
surpassing loveliness, but it is doomed soon to fade, 
those odors become insensible, the brilliancy of those 
richly tinted colors fade, the leaves drop, and, colorless 
or decayed, fall from the stem, and the rose of yester- 
day, then so beautiful and gay, is now gone, mingled 
with the dust forever. So, of a precocious intellect, 
unsupported by a sound and healthful physical body. 
The early dawn of the life of such a being and its 
ripening man- or womanhood may for a brief space 
of time shine forth in the presence of its fellows like a 
meteor in its fearful grandeur, or a wayward comet in 
the path of its glory, but the light of its intellect must 
soon be extinguished, go down to the dust in sadness 
and be lost to the world forever. Such is always the 
destiny of early genius or great mental powers un- 
supported by a vigorous and healthful constitution. 

A comparison between England, Ireland and most 
of the European States and the people of these United 
States is not favorable to us, regarding the health and 
physical condition of our people. Look for example 
at the difference in the capacity of endurance ob- 
served by every one between the American people and 
those who emigrate to and settle here coming from 
England, Ireland and Germany. We find in the lat- 
ter a strong, well -formed and healthy people, gen- 
erally capable of enduring a long-continued effort of 
toil and labor. I sincerely believe they have compar- 
atively a third if not one-half greater power of physical 
endurance than the Americans, more especially so of 



244 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

the females. While American women, as a mass, can 
do little more than take care of themselves, a German, 
English or Irish woman can endure without over-taxa- 
tion of effort, as much physical exertion as two, three 
and for aught I know, four American women, espe- 
cially those reared in our cities and large towns. Nec- 
essarily there must be some cause for all this. It is 
not from indolence, for the American women are as 
ambitious as any other people. It must be either in 
the climate, habits of diet or condition of physical 
training and exercise. Is it in our climate? If it 
were, then the descendants of these German and Irish 
people who settle in this country would after a few 
generations degenerate physically, but I have not 
observed this to be so. For example, Pennsylvania, at 
least the older parts of it, was settled by many Ger- 
man and Irish emigrants about one hundred and fifty 
years ago. This period of time, allowing seventeen 
years to a generation, would give at least eight genera- 
tions — a sufficient period to make a fair test. I have 
traveled considerably through the middle and lower 
counties of this State and observed its inhabitants, 
and a more robust and healthy looking people, partic- 
ularly the females, I have never seen than those who 
are the descendants of the early German and Irish 
settlers. I do not recollect ever to have seen a pale- 
faced, slender, wasp-waisted female among them. In- 
deed, in some parts of this State women not only 
attend to the whole of their domestic affairs indoors, 
but in haying and harvest seasons actually go into the 
fields and assist their husbands and parents in the 
lighter farm work of the season. They help to rake 
the hay and sometimes to reap the grain and assist 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 245 

in gathering the bundles into shocks. Now possibly 
some dainty lady will ask of me, " Are you so brutal- 
ized as to advocate that women ought to engage in field 
labor? " I answer " no," but I do advocate, as I think 
in behalf of the health of American women, that they 
will consent to take more exercise in the open air, that 
they will not shut themselves within doors and out of 
the blessed light of heaven from the beginning to the 
end of the year, merely because it would in their opin- 
ion be thought not genteel to be seen at out-of-door 
exercise. 

Why is it that our American women are so reluctant 
to allow the sun to kiss their cheeks that nature made 
so fair? Why are they so unwilling to ramble about 
the fields and " pu' the gowen fine " ; why do they pre- 
fer to immure themselves as it were in a convent or a 
prison until they grow thin and pale and look more 
when they do go out like a wandering ghost than like 
a woman enjoying the blessings of health and useful- 
ness? It is, I suppose, because they believe it would 
be ungenteel for them to do otherwise. Away with 
such prudery, such mock refinement ; such a sentiment 
should find no place in the heart of a sensible and in- 
telligent woman. 

I would earnestly recommend you, should you be 
asked to join a genteel sewing society, the proceeds to 
be applied to charitable purposes, respectfully to de- 
cline and, instead, forthwith join a jolly romping so- 
ciety. " Charity begins at home," put on your old 
cotton gloves and your calico sunbonnet and go out to 
tend your flowers, borders, your rose plats and your 
kitchen gardens, if you please. Ramble about the 
fields and the woodlands, stroll along the banks of the 



246 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

brooks, gathering pebbles or watching the speckled 
trout as he skips about delighted in his watery ele- 
ment. If you have courage and skill, tempt the 
golden fish by a newly caught grasshopper or artificial 
fly, dangling at the end of the line gracefully floating 
from your fishing rod, and if you can land him on the 
shore, quickly slip him into your basket and carry him 
home to be cooked for your dinner. These employ- 
ments will give you healthful vigor, a thousand times 
more grateful in enjoyment than keeping yourself 
mewed up in carpeted drawing room until the rose 
which nature allows to blossom on your cheek shall 
have faded to a lily. Allow me to give you an anec- 
dote which I have before repeated in private conversa- 
tion. 

An American clergyman went to England and was 
invited by an English friend, a gentleman of property 
and position, to spend a few days with him at his resi- 
dence in the country. The clergyman spent a day or 
two in looking over his friend's grounds and in becom- 
ing acquainted with the family, when at evening it was 
decided that the clergyman and the host and family 
should the next morning go abroad about five miles 
to visit an ancient ruin of interest, After the break- 
fast of the ensuing morning, the American retired to 
his room upstairs, the window of which overlooked 
the courtyard and the public road. He threw open 
the sash and sat a long time looking from the window, 
expecting to see a carriage and horses draw up to 
carry them out on their excursion, but none came, and 
he began to wonder what was the matter, when a serv- 
ant came to his door and announced that the party 
below stairs was waiting for him to join them. De- 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 247 

scending to the room below, he found his friend with 
his wife and two grown-up daughters in readiness. 
His friend had on a plain suit with a straw hat and 
walking stick in his hand, while the mother and 
daughters had on calico dresses, sunbonnets and cow- 
hide shoes. The clergyman was astonished and asked 
if they were really going to walk to the ruin. The 
friend said "certainly, they thought nothing of it." 
The guest dared not decline but started on foot with 
the party, although feeling a strong misgiving as to 
his ability to perform so long a walk. The clergy- 
man and the party returned at noon, but the guest 
was completely jaded out and exhausted while the 
others were fresh as ever. The American kept his 
bed most of the afternoon and at evening met the 
family in the drawing room. The young ladies, 
dressed in the fashionable attire of the day, looked 
healthful and happy and conducted themselves in a 
perfect, ladylike manner, just as though they had not 
walked farther than from the house to the garden 
during the whole day. Such is the marked difference 
between English and American habits of exercise, and 
who will say that that difference is not greatly in favor 
of our transatlantic neighbors and against us on this 
side of the great waters. Would it not be well for 
those of us who are in health and wish to keep it, 
to emulate their example? 

In regard to physical education, the practice of 
some of the most distinguished nations of antiquity 
was very different from that now adopted by the 
moderns. The Persians gave their boys but water- 
cresses and bread and pure water, requiring much ex- 
ercise. The Romans trained their youth both men- 



248 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

tally and physically at one and the same time. They 
had large schools at which the boys were required to 
live in the plainest manner. They were required to 
take constant exercise by practicing gymnastic sports 
to strengthen their physical constitutions and per- 
mitted them to witness the gladiatorial combats to 
give them courage. True, this was a semi-barbarous 
mode of training, but it gave them strength, courage 
and discipline and made their people at one time 
masters of the world. The Grecians educated their 
youth in much the same way. The boys ate at one 
common table of the plainest food and were required 
to take constant exercise at the gymnastic games by 
running, wrestling, pitching of quoits and throwing 
heavy bars or whatever would strengthen their mus- 
cular systems. The men established for themselves 
what is historically called the Amphictyonic games 
which were well calculated fully to develop the mus- 
cular powers. The Greeks became the most distin- 
guished nation for courage, for physical endurance, 
as well as for mental superiority of all the nations of 
antiquity. Many of the productions of their orators, 
their poets and their historians have ever been con- 
sidered models of perfection and excellence to the 
present day, and as to their bravery and discipline, 
the histories of the battles of Marathon and Thermop- 
ylae are undying records, placing their fame as sol- 
diers as glorious examples for the admiration of the 
world, and their laws enacted by their wisdom and 
patriotism were, considering the times and the age in 
which they lived, unrivaled by any nation which has 
since followed in the wake of time. 

If the theory of physiologists be true and the ob- 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 249 

servations of the experienced be true, those muscles 
and limbs of the human body most exercised, become 
the strongest and most capable of endurance, and it 
is just as true that every muscle of the human body 
requires full exercise to give a just equilibrium of 
strength to the whole system. It is also equally true 
that a sound and vigorous body is required to produce 
the greatest permanent mental excellence. As a 
corollary, it follows that the greatest amount of both 
physical and mental power can only be attained by 
laying the foundation in a good physical frame which 
only is to be secured by proper exercise in the open 
air. 

It requires but a few examples to show the effect 
which may be produced upon the human system by a 
course of physical training or repeated exercise of all 
or particular organs of the system. The muscles are 
the man's depositors and source of strength, and see 
what almost incredible feats have been performed as 
a consequence of their continued exertion. It is said 
that in the mountainous countries of Chile and Peru 
in South America, where gold and silver are much 
sought, that the ores are carried down the mountains 
by men called in our language porters, the paths be- 
ing too steep for animals of burden. These men by 
constant use and habit are said to carry three hundred 
pounds weight upon their shoulders and continue this 
kind of work throughout the day. They are said to 
be capable of carrying this amount of load twenty 
miles a day for several consecutive days and keep in 
good health, living in the meantime as most of them 
do, on little or nothing else than fruits. The Steve- 
dores or porters at Constantinople and Smyrna in 



250 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

Turkey, where no beasts of burden are used, are, it is 
said, many of them able to carry one thousand pounds 
at a load. This seems incredible, but it is well at- 
tested by travelers who have visited those cities, and 
recently you will recollect that a man in one of our 
Western States has lifted one thousand pounds at a 
square lift. He may be of Herculean strength; we 
all know that continued practice of the muscular sys- 
tem when in health will enable a man to effect prod- 
igies in the way of physical strength. Recollect 
what practice has done for Monsr. Blondin, enabling 
him to cross the chasm of Niagara on a rope. Recol- 
lect the soldier who after joining in the battle of 
Marathon ran from the battle ground to the Grecian 
capitol and, covered with dust and blood, exclaimed, 
" Rejoice with the victors." I do not argue that 
Americans should become porters, rope dancers or 
athletes, but I respectfully ask of those who must 
practice sedentary employment as professional men, 
merchants, clerks and in-door mechanics, to take more 
exercise in the open air, so long as they have health 
to support it, for if they fail in this respect, too soon 
will they find their health and strength will fail them 
also. How easily do we detect the man of sedentary 
habits who spends his life in-doors, by his pale face, 
or his sallow visage, while the man who takes constant 
outdoor exercise shows the unmistakable vigor of 
health in the naturally diffused mingling of the ver- 
milion, the olive and the brown of his sunburned and 
wind-beaten countenance, giving the " human face 
divine " that rich glow of health so beautifying to the 
beholder, and so exceedingly delightful to the posses- 
sor. Health is a boon to the human race so rich, 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 251 

so rare and of such surpassing excellence that the 
most exuberant imagination falls totally short of 
making an adequate comparison. 

It has been remarked by a late writer that while 
in Europe, health is the rule and sickness the ex- 
ception. In the United States, the proposition is 
reversed; disease here is the rule and health the ex- 
ception. If this observation be true, Americans 
should look for the causes which produce this most 
alarming result. I will not be so presumptuous as 
to say I am able to solve the problem, but I will hazard 
the inquiry, Is it not owing to the habits of the Amer- 
ican people of directing the whole energies of their 
beings, soul and body, to the accomplishing of one 
of the two leading and all absorbing objects so eagerly 
sought by all our citizens, either the acquisition of 
wealth or the acquirement of fame, professional or 
artistic, without due regard to mental relaxation 
and physical discipline? I sincerely believe that an 
affirmative answer goes nearer to a correct solution 
of this important problem than any other that can be 
given. 

Does not the mind wear out the bodies of the Ameri- 
cans? Would not such a resistless, unyielding effort 
of the mental energies as is exercised by our people 
in the pursuits I have stated wear out any people? 
It seems to me evident that Americans should give 
their bodies better physical training and their mental 
powers more rest. 

In Europe, it has been found by statistical compari- 
son that the average duration of human life has in- 
creased about one-third within the past century. In 
the fourteenth century it was not more than seventeen 



252 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

years, in the seventeenth century it was twenty-six 
years, in the eighteenth century it was thirty-two 
and for the past three-fourths of a century it has been 
about thirty-eight to thirty -nine years. While in the 
United States, although I have seen no statistical ac- 
count, I do not believe that for the last century the 
average of human life has increased at all, certainly 
not in the same ratio of increase found on the other 
continent. This is not as it should be. If we have as 
good a climate as they have in England, France and 
Germany, by practicing the same physical training 
we might boast of as great average longevity as they 
or any other nation. 

A word to the student and those whose habits of 
business require a sitting or standing posture while 
engaged in indoor employment. Much of the injury 
received by those who practice sedentary vocations, 
so far as health is concerned, arises from the peculiar- 
ity of posture which they assume. In schools, par- 
ticularly, I have often observed with surprise and 
regret that the students sit or lean over their desks 
in a stooping posture. I have been much surprised 
that teachers did not take measures to correct this 
evil. The rules of physiology as to position and exer- 
cise, observation, experience, everything that you can 
bring to bear upon this subject clearly prove that 
there is nothing more hurtful to the human system 
than an unnatural, unnecessary and ungraceful stoop- 
ing or leaning forward of the head and shoulders 
while engaged at your studies or over the desk. It 
strikes at the fountains of life a deadly blow. It 
contracts the chest and crushes the lungs into a most 
unnatural and unhealthful condition while the lungs 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 253 

are thus pressed against the chest and doubled up 
into a heap. The blood so necessary to life and health 
is forced into and out of the lungs in a manner that is 
most destructive to human existence, and those who 
follow, keeping this posture a sufficient length of 
time, will be tolerably sure, in the end, to fill a con- 
sumptive's grave. I do not speak metaphorically, 
but what I believe is the sober truth. It is so easy 
a thing to correct, this most nefarious habit. Let 
me entreat you to do so when you read, write, stand, 
walk or sit, do them all keeping the chest and body 
in an erect position. God has made your back bones 
to be kept straight. See that you do it. Sit or 
stand upright and give the lungs fair play. When 
you breathe take in a full inspiration of fresh air 
and allow it to pass away from the lungs slowly. 
This will feed the lungs with just the kind of food 
they most need, plenty of pure, fresh air. This will 
invigorate your systems and when you grow old you 
will not show the crooked frame and stoop shoulders 
that I do. I learned the theory I have pronounced 
to you too late. I tell it to you now, and if you do 
not profit by it you will not when you are old have 
the same excuse I have. You cannot then say you 
learned it " too late," for I tell it you while you are 
yet young and may, if you will, profit by the expe- 
rience of one who has trod the path of life before you 
and who now looks back upon that silent but instruc- 
tive path with regret that he had not been better in- 
structed in his youth. 

I repeat that teachers are at fault for not teaching 
their scholars to keep themselves in an erect position, 
and to pay more attention to the physical education of 



254 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

their pupils than they are wont to do, in view of a 
useful career in life. It is fruitless to cultivate, to 
educate the mind, unless it can be built on the sure 
foundation of a vigorous physical frame. In their 
hours of relaxation, let your scholars have their ball 
plays and cricket matches to their hearts' content. 
How futile all will say it would be for an architect 
to erect a beautiful and highly adorned edifice on 
an unsubstantial foundation. Any one would de- 
nounce him as a fool and say he was totally ignorant 
of his business, but he is no more the subject of just 
reprehension than the teacher who devotes his atten- 
tion to the sole purpose of educating the minds of his 
scholars and totally neglects the formation of his 
pupils' physical constitution, by training them to 
maintain an erect posture and to take such gymnastic 
exercise as is best adapted to the full development 
of their physical powers. 

We often on looking into a schoolroom see scholars, 
particularly the young, sitting on the benches much 
in the form of an ampersand. I don't think you will 
find this word ampersand in Webster's large folio 
dictionary, but if you will look at a boy on a school- 
room bench, sitting with his legs curled under the 
bench, his body bent in the form of a hoop and his 
elbows resting on his knees, with a book in one hand 
and his eyes in a " fine phrenzy rolling," you can form 
a pretty good idea of the character I allude to under 
the cognomen of ampersand. If the boy goes on in 
that way, when he grows up to manhood he will be 
a living, crooked, round-shouldered interrogation 
point and will never be able to make a coat set grace- 
fully on his back in all his life. Besides this, he will 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 255 

have contracted a habit which often leads to one of 
the most fatal maladies which ever falls to the lot of 
humanity. I say then to the student, as one who 
has trod the path before you, one who contracted 
this wretched habit when young, during the four years 
spent in study trying to learn to be a lawyer : stand, 
sit and walk erect, and not when you are old become 
the round-shouldered, crooked interrogation point 
that I am. 

It is a subject of ordinary remark that in the United 
States, students who pass a regular collegiate course 
of study, when they have finished that course, return 
to their homes with a broken-down constitution. 
They look more like those unhappy ghosts seen by 
iEneas, who were wandering among darkened shades 
along the banks of the River Styx, despairingly await- 
ing their turn to be ferried over the dark and murky 
waters of that mysterious stream in old Charon's 
boat, than like living, breathing mortals clothed with 
flesh and blood. 

If a classical education can only be obtained at such 
a fearful cost, it were better left unlearned. For a 
man to entail upon himself a most miserable condi- 
tion for all the after years of his life is too dear a 
penalty to pay for learning. If a student must wear 
out the morning of his life to learn and after he has 
mastered the learning of the schools must have wasted 
away his physical energies and look the melancholy 
picture of " Patience on her monument, smiling at 
grief," he had better spend his days in blissful igno- 
rance, but in the full enjoyment of the best of nature's 
gifts, a vigorous constitution and good health. But 
these fearful results are not necessary. Mental cul- 



256 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

ture and physical discipline may and should always 
go hand in hand and will surely lead their votaries to 
the Elysian fields of earthly happiness. 

Probably the great embodiment of the American 
sentiments, progress and speed, rapid progress and 
rapid speed, has much to do with the steam process 
and hotbed process by which the minds of the young 
are now sought to be cultivated. A boy now to be 
promising in the way of mental distinction must quit 
his academical studies at the age of fifteen and must 
graduate at a college at nineteen and obtain a diploma 
for a profession at twenty-one. This rapid, hotbed 
process may be attained but at the cost, the fearful 
cost, of a broken constitution. The exclusive culti- 
vation of the mind to the almost total neglect of 
physical training may produce a precocious develop- 
ment of the mental powers, but it will draw the nerv- 
ous influence so necessary to bodily health and leave 
the system much like a hot house plant, a production 
of premature development but with that total want of 
stamina and physical vigor necessary to its future 
prosperity and usefulness. It is not sufficiently hardy 
to withstand the after buffetings of life, the physical 
constitution gives away and yields a victim to the 
great American sentiment of rapid progress. Steam- 
boat traveling at ten to twenty miles an hour, railroad 
traveling at twenty to sixty miles an hour, balloon- 
ing at a mile a minute, have turned the heads of the 
American people and they seem now to think that 
everything else must be done at the same ratio of 
speed. It would be well for them to come to a stand- 
point, take a breathing time in their rapid course of 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 257 

progress and reflect calmly and coolly whether by the 
present system of educating the mental to the cost of 
the physical powers, they are not wantonly violating 
one of the inevitable laws of inexorable nature, for 
that law most clearly requires physical culture to go 
hand in hand with mental development, and a viola- 
tion of this law entails upon its victim a thousand 
times more misery than all the benefits of a rapid edu- 
cation can possibly compensate. 

Great mental development, when properly con- 
ducted, is no way hostile to longevity; a few instances 
will suffice to prove this assertion. Doctor Benjamin 
Franklin was one of the most profound, if not the most 
profound, thinkers of the age in which he lived. He 
was an ardent student and a close thinker from his 
boyhood to old age, and yet, by the most thorough 
course of physical training practiced all his life, the 
" American Philosopher " lived in the full enjoyment 
of his faculties twelve years beyond the ordinary pe- 
riod allotted as the age of man. He died at eighty- 
two years of age. Perhaps there is no position in 
which the mental powers are brought more to their 
utmost stretch of human limit than the judiciary; no 
position requiring more depth of research, closer 
reasoning, or nicety of discrimination in the argu- 
mentation powers of the mind than that of a judge, 
and yet very many of the English and American 
judges have lived, by taking proper care of their phys- 
ical discipline, to be octogenarians. Lord Brougham, 
who is mentally one of the most industrious men and 
closest thinkers that ever lived, is now over eighty. 
Lord Campbell of the Queen's Bench is in the full en- 



258 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

joy men t of his mental and physical powers at about 
the same age, and several other distinguished English 
judges now living are nearly, if not quite, as old as 
him. Baron Humboldt of Prussia hardened his con- 
stitution when young by years of rugged travel, and 
lived to exercise a mind of the highest powers for 
nearly ninety years. 

In this country, those eminent jurists, Chief Justice 
Marshall, Story and Chancellor Kent, lived to be very 
old men, blessed with minds of the highest culture 
all their days and the Judges of the Supreme Court 
of our own State have nearly all lived to be old men. 
Although a more distinguished Judiciary in the high- 
est walks of their calling has graced no bench in any 
of our sister States, Chief Justice Taney of the United 
States Supreme Court is now about eighty. 

These few illustrations, without adding more, are 
sufficient to prove my position, that great mental at- 
tainments are not incompatible with vigorous health 
or longevity, if properly tempered by physical exer- 
cise. 

But while I have been speaking, some of you have 
doubtless indulged a merry twinkle of the eye as 
though you were amused, and said to yourselves, while 
you looked at my wan and sallow visage, " Your theory 
is well enough, but why have you not profited better 
by your preaching? " I can only say, perhaps I 
learned the theory too late. At all events, nature 
never gave me more than a tithing's part of a good 
constitution and even of that disease has made a 
wreck. I feel like a " lamb dumb before its shearer," 
and have nothing to say, no answer to give, but will 



OKLO JAY HAMLIN 259 

hasten to conclude by the sentiment expressed with 
so much simplicity and beauty by the poet Burns : 

" In plowman's phrase, God send you speed, 

Still daily to grow wiser; 

And may you better reck the rede, 

Than ever did the adviser." 



U. S. FLAG 

WHY is it that a few square yards of cloth, or 
a bare bit of bunting, with the figures of an 
eagle, with the stars and stripes traced upon it, when 
raised aloft in the air and spread to the breeze, elec- 
trifies and inspires a nation of people with an emo- 
tional ardor the most intense, and spontaneously is 
raised the welcome shout of millions of our country- 
men? It is because that flag is the emblem which 
represents a nation's honor and its glory. 

Why, when our country's flag was stricken down 
at Fort Sumter, did a simultaneous burst of indigna- 
tion swell and upheave the swaying mass of seventeen 
millions of patriotic hearts, who cried aloud as with 
one voice, " To the rescue " ? It was because the em- 
blem of our country's honor and its glory had been 
insulted, and was sought to be made to trail in the 
dust in national dishonor and shame. No patriot's 
eye could brook the sight, or ear could listen to the 
story without a flash from his indignant eye and the 
nerving of his arm with the deathless energy to avenge 
the wrong and punish the aggressor for that foul 
stain upon our nation's honor. So will it ever be with 
a nation of patriots, and such I trust in God will ever 
be the national character of Americans. 



260 



A FEW HINTS SUGGESTED ON POLITICAL 
SUBJECTS 

UNIVERSAL liberty and universal equality of 
the human race never did exist, and judging 
by the experience of the past never will exist. 

Universal liberty would be an unrestrained and 
independent exercise of one's own opinion and free 
will upon any and upon all subjects of conversation. 
In this view, who is free and independent? 

I conclude that if a man is in any way influenced 
in his opinion or action by the opinion or action of 
another person, that man is not entirely free in his 
opinion. 

We are all influenced by habits of previous educa- 
tion and habits of thought. Our habits and previous 
mode of thinking render us a sort of thinking machine, 
and the machinery runs as our previous habits of 
thinking may direct. We are controlled by the opin- 
ions of others, particularly the authors of books and 
the opinions of distinguished men; few thoughts are 
original. 

Among men, superior wealth, superior intellect and 
larger experience nearly always govern. 

If a dozen men assemble to decide a matter of 
money-making interest, that man among them who 
has already acquired the largest wealth and is reputed 
for the largest business sagacity will rule a majority 
of the twelve by his opinion, and justly so, because 

261 



262 OELO JAY HAMLIN 

his possession of wealth means that he has the largest 
capacity to acquire wealth, and consequently his 
opinion carries the superior force and exerts a power 
to which the others yield. 



JUDICIARY MEMORANDA 

[SAMPLE OF MR. HAMLIN'S NOTES] 

[The following memoranda illustrate the manner in which Mr. 
Hamlin made rough notes of subjects which he had under con- 
sideration and later gave them extended form.] 

Notes. 

BURTHEN — reluctant — one circumstance, con- 
stituents — can make better philosophy, etc., im- 
proves — threshold of improvement. Why ever 
change. Monarchy oldest. What condition without 
reform. Not put to sea without helm, compass, 
anchor. 

Extended Form. 

Public speaking to me a burden, reluctant, but one 
circumstance induces to speak, constituents propose 
that I speak the voice of the North, echo, reform, re- 
form ; do not believe we cannot change for the better, 
a land of intelligence, and yet the only thing that can- 
not be improved is the most important of all, the 
science of government, philosophy, religion, agricul- 
ture, the arts, — we are yet upon the threshold of im- 
provement, the ocean of experiment before us. If not 
prudent to change, why sit here, why was our govern- 
ment ever changed? The oldest government, a des- 
potic monarchy — that the most fierce — most simple 
— what would have been our condition without reli- 
gion or political reformers, — ignorance, superstition 
and bigotry. Not disposed to put to sea without a 

263 



264 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

helm, a compass or an anchor, a sea of future amend- 
ments our helm, reason our compass, anchor our con- 
stitution in the affection of the people. 

18TH DISTRICT 
Notes. 

Judge, jurist, practical lawyer, amiable man — 
vicissitudes. Contend for the principle. 

Extended Form. 

I am the more willing to avow my sentiments on 
this subject, for the fact that we have not the slightest 
cause to complain of the administration of the law 
by his Honorable Judge Eldred of the 18th District 
where I reside; to the character of a profound jurist 
that gentleman adds that of an experienced, practical 
lawyer, the most amicable disposition and courteous 
manners to the members of the bar and the people, 
blended with the high dignity of his official station. 
I know of no vicissitudes of our political fortune that 
would render me more unhappy than the removal 
from the bench of so accomplished a judge and so ex- 
cellent a man. What I do in this matter is upon 
principle and for the benefit of our free institutions. 

INDUCEMENT TO IMPROVEMENT 

Notes. 

Why appoint a lawyer, study, reflection, judge 
should improve, no inducement. Men act from mo- 
tive, praise, luxury, amusement, wealth. Desire of 
improvement should be paramount — if object view, 
will attain it. Can't be great without exertion, a 
judge, twenty years' study. Alexander, Napoleon, 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 265 

wealth costs exertion, those born with enough seldom 
desire more. Sons of great men, rich man's son sel- 
dom adds, etc. Give judge life office, fatal opiate. 
Place him above people. Frail man dressed in a little 
brief authority. No improvement in twenty years, 
for whom a judge made and removed by people. 

JUDGES TOO INDEPENDENT 

Notes. 

A Pennsylvania judge too independent, too far from 
the people, official dignity changed to hauteur — from 
the agreeable counselor he emulates the titled despot. 
Speak impersonally. Tendency of life officer — seek 
and retain power. He has no common feeling with 
the people, moves in another region. The judge 
should grace the ermine not the ermine grace the 
judge. He should not have the means of abusing 
power although he has power, is he the base organ 
of the law, he should not be an insensible machine, 
should be honest and clear — give the cue to a verdict 
and use discretion. 

PRINCIPLE OF FREE INSTITUTIONS 

Notes. 

Separation Gt. Britain. — Government of people — 
government for happiness of people — only instance 
self-government — republican plan — rests with peo- 
ple — this the Magna Charta — orbit — alchemy — 
holds our soil. 

Extended Form. 

Reason of our separation from Great Britain that 
the then government was not a government of the 



266 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

people, for what is government instituted but for the 
safety and happiness of the people? We exhibit the 
only instance of a government solely conducted by the 
people in the known world. Our government was 
originally founded on the Republican plan of the peo- 
ple governing themselves. All power emanates from 
them and rests with them and returns to them — this 
is the great Magna Charta of our liberties and inde- 
pendence. It is the orbit in which all our Republican 
institutions revolve. It is the alchemy which dis- 
solves all our opinions into one. It is that which 
holds the very soil of our country, makes every 
home the resting place of liberty, the idol of his af- 
fection, and to him the only sanctified spot upon 
earth. 

THE PEOPLE SHOULD CHOOSE THEIR OFFICERS 

Notes. 

If government of people, should choose judges, ex- 
ecutives, representatives. If bad executive remove 
direct, etc., so of representatives — not so judge. If 
representatives bad law, repeal — bad judge removed 
by God only — Judge should under direct power of 
people, independent of all except Senate. Conse- 
quences of removal inducement to acquit, sympathy, 
more disgraceful, more certain acquittal. More rigid 
punishment, more chance of escape. Difficulties or 
removal, veneration, uncertain of removal, Bar, ex- 
pense, their hatred. Expire by limitation, avoid this. 
Independent of passion, faction, prejudice of all but 
God and the people. Too independent, autocrat, 
sultan. In discretion he is despotic ; — is he dis- 
courteous — is he immoral, neglect duty, petulant, 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 267 

prejudiced, plausible yet corrupt, ignorant, dema- 
gogue tyrant — no remedy but Senate. Case juror 
against judge. 

Extended Form. 

The people should as well have their choice of 
judges as of their executive or representative. If 
they get a bad executive, they can remove him by the 
direct influence of their vote, so of the representative, 
but the judge can only be changed by others, by the 
indirect remedy applied through their representatives. 
If the representatives enact an unwholesome law, they 
repeal that law by electing new representatives at most 
in a twelvemonth — a bad judge can only be removed 
(except for impeachable matter) by the act of the 
great Judge of the Universe, our God. 

In a republican government, every officer should be 
directly within the power of the people, — as it now 
is, he is totally independent of the direct influence of 
the people over whom he administers the law — he is 
independent of every power except that of his triers, 
the Senate. As it now is, the very consequences of a 
removal by address or impeachment are the strongest 
inducement to acquit a judge. Sympathy is a power- 
ful inducement to human action, and it is now, as it 
has ever been, the more disgraceful the punishment, 
the more certainty of an acquittal. It is a settled 
rule in all civilized nations that the more rigid the 
punishment, the greater the chance of escape. There 
are almost insurmountable difficulties to the removal 
of a judge, — reverential awe for those in authority — 
the people uncertain of his removal — the Members of 
the Bar — the enormous expense — incurring his 



268 LIFE AND WOBKS OF 

hatred if unsuccessful. Were his term to expire by 
its own limitation, it would avoid all this. He should 
be independent of factional influence, of prejudice, of 
everything but his government and the people. He is 
too independent. He is as independent as His Imper- 
ial Highness, the Grand Sultan. In matters applied 
to the discretion of the judge, he is not only despotic, 
but beyond the control of the people — if he is dis- 
courteous and refuses to hear a party or his advocate, 
no remedy, — is his immorality a disgrace and stain 
upon the judicial ermine, no remedy, — is he pet- 
ulant or prejudiced, no remedy. Has he a plaus- 
ible exterior and corrupt within, no remedy; is 
he petulant, passionate or prejudiced, no remedy, 
is he ignorant, a political demagogue or a tyrant, no 
remedy; unless the great body of the people of his 
district at vast expense. 

POLITICAL JUDGE 
Notes. 

People should choose their rulers — the great ob- 
jection to frequent appointments will make a political 
judge, a judge who seeks to be popular, the more the 
better. How to be popular — be good, learned, and 
just. If he descends to politics, should be removed, 
does he favor the clients of one party both parties 
often of same politics, must offend one. Nothing 
makes him more unpopular to both parties than poli- 
tics. Should so conduct as to engraft his popularity 
in the people's affections. Do not think the Senate 
so corrupt as to appoint a partisan for party sake. A 
good judge sure of support — a bad should not be. A 
great body of our people desire this change, out of 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 269 

respect to that body submit the amendment, if wrong 
the old constitution may be restored. No danger of 
the people making the experiment ; if it be an evil, will 
correct itself by restoring the present constitution. 

Judges not a higher order of beings — just men. 
Respect their station and the great majority of them 
as good men respect ministers, not because of the men 
but of their sacred office. Judges not exempt from 
vice, etc. — if it exists the more hideous in a judge's 
example. Put this question on the ground that nearly 
all, if not all the existing judges are good. We do 
not propose to remove them but only may remove. 
Judges are as much public servants as a Representa- 
tive or Senator. Would any district want a Repre- 
sentative or Senator fastened upon them for life? If 
good retain, if bad reject. 

Willing to raise salary — plenty will take office — 
office an accident — no man ought to desire it a mo- 
ment if he does not please people. No objection if 
judge descends from dignity of Bench to Bar. I have 
followed the plow and sat in halls of legislature, etc. 
The tenure of office has been most talked of by the peo- 
ple. This was before the election and shows they 
desire it. 



ONE OF MR. HAMLIN'S SPEECHES IN 
THE HOUSE 

House of Representatives 
Saturday, March 9, 1833. 

On the bill appropriating $20,000 to aid in the improvement of 
the East and West State Road, leading through the counties of 
Tioga, Potter, McKean, and Warren, offered by him as an amend- 
ment to the bill entitled " An act for the relief of certain turn- 
pike roads." 

MR. HAMLIN rose and said: Mr. Speaker, I 
have been extremely happy to find during the 
period I have been honored with a seat in this house, 
so very many gentlemen better qualified than myself 
to enter the field of public debate — gentlemen every 
way qualified by their experience, strength of mind, 
acuteness of comprehension, and persuasive eloquence, 
to stand forth in defense of their constituents, and 
the best interests and true policy of our flourishing 
commonwealth. For this reason, sir, I have hereto- 
fore but seldom been willing to trespass on the time 
or patience of the members of this house, and even 
now, nothing but the all-absorbing importance of the 
question involved by the amendment I have proposed, 
to the interests and necessities of that portion of our 
State from which I am sent, could induce me to ask 
your indulgence for a few moments, while I attempt 
in my " backwoods " style, to bring to view the claims 
of the four counties named in the bill, to this appro- 

270 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 271 

priation. If gentlemen will give their calm and se- 
rious attention to the facts I shall endeavor to state in 
relation to the proposed appropriation, and then judge 
of its merits dispassionately, and with a view to equal 
justice, I shall most cheerfully submit to their deci- 
sion, whatever may be the result. 

The counties of Potter and McKean, which I more 
immediately represent, have heretofore been but little 
known, either to the legislature, or the citizens of 
the commonwealth at large. They sprang up into ex- 
istence as a people, but a few years ago. The county 
of McKean was organized for judicial purposes as 
late as A. D. 1826 — the county of Potter is not yet 
organized. The four counties of Tioga, Potter, Mc- 
Kean and Warren, making a considerable part of the 
northern tier of counties in this State, bordering on 
the New York State line, together contain a territory 
of two and one-half millions of acres of land, which, 
for grazing purposes, have not their superior in this 
State, and probably in few others. Their climate is 
healthy in the extreme — water pure — and soil ex- 
uberant. The slender but increasing population they 
now possess is industrious, enterprising, and intelli- 
gent. This immense territory, now dotted by but here 
and there a settler, would give twenty-five thousand 
families each a farm of one hundred acres of excellent 
land. This vast territory, sir (owing, as I shall in the 
course of my arguments endeavor to show, to the 
want of passable roads ) , is now occupied by less than 
three thousand families, or about one-tenth part of 
what it might sustain. The county of McKean, for 
example, now has but an average population of one 
and one-fourth to a square mile. Other parts of our 



272 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

country sustain from fifty to seventy souls to the 
square mile. That county, inferior to no part of the 
surrounding country, either in this State or New York, 
in point of the quality of the land and local facilities 
generally, might sustain a population of from sixty 
to one hundred thousand souls — whereas it now can 
number but about two thousand. Sir, those four 
new counties, which together in A. D. 1830, contained 
but 16,481 inhabitants, are capable of supporting the 
enormous number of two hundred thousand souls, at 
a moderate calculation. 

As legislators, it behooves us to look sedulously to 
the growing prosperity of our State. I dare avow 
that not a member upon the floor of this hall will, for 
a moment, deny that maxim which was coeval with the 
formation of our government — a maxim sanctioned 
by the wisdom of those enlightened and patriotic 
statesmen who have gone before us — statesmen whose 
wisdom we have left us, recorded on the never dying 
annals of our country — the glare of whose light we 
have to guide us in the path of both national and state 
legislation, that the inhabitants are the true value 
of our country. If, then, such be the settled axiom, 
we can do our duty only by its promotion. It is 
equally true, sir, that the original foundation, and 
only permanent support of the wealth of this country 
are the agriculturists, the honest, peaceable, indus- 
trious and independent farmers, whose patriotic love 
of their country is beyond all price and can neither 
be bought, sold or tampered with. It may be re- 
marked, generally, that in order to render any country 
truly independent, its products should be diversified ; 
they should possess resources of their own of all the 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 273 

necessary productions, that their wants, conveniences 
and luxuries may be obtained within their own boun- 
dary; then and then only, will they be truly inde- 
pendent. 

The northern part of Pennsylvania, particularly 
those counties to which I have alluded, possess em- 
phatically a grazing soil; the middle and southern 
counties of the State are emphatically a grain soil; 
no part of the Union is, from the nature of the soil 
and its spontaneous production of the different 
grasses, its healthful climate and pure waters, better 
calculated for the successful raising of excellent 
horses, cattle and sheep, than those counties I have 
mentioned. The rich grain land farmers of your mid- 
dle and southern counties have not those facilities — 
they are dependent upon other states for a supply; 
hence it is that almost daily, large droves of sheep, 
cattle, horses, etc., are driven from the States of New 
York, Ohio, and even as far west as the Mississippi, 
to supply Philadelphia, and all the grain counties in 
the State; this state of things need not, nor should 
not, be so. Give us the means of improving the roads 
in northern Pennsylvania, so as to induce settlers to 
locate upon our lands, and we will furnish an ample 
supply. I will not disguise that the lands I have men- 
tioned are better for grass than grain. Consequently 
it is the interest of the farmer to turn his attention 
almost exclusively to grazing. If those counties were 
connected with the internal improvements of the 
State, and their facilities for transportation by roads 
were perfected, they would willingly drive their cattle 
and horses to the interior of the State, and take grain 
and flour in exchange. This mutual exchange would 



274 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

be mutually advantageous; then the products of each 
part of the country would add to the products of the 
other. 

Among the reasons in favor of this appropriation, 
I would state that this road for the improvement of 
which aid is asked from the legislature (as can be 
seen by a glance of the eye on the state map, which 
hangs on your walls) , runs in nearly a direct east and 
west line, commencing on the Delaware, at Milford, 
in the county of Pike, running directly through nearly 
the center of all the northern counties of the State, 
bordering on the New York line, and terminate west- 
wardly at Lake Erie, a distance in the whole of more 
than three hundred miles. It is known that the tide 
of emigration has for many years and still continues 
to set in an all sweeping current from the eastern 
States towards Ohio and the West. The direct, near- 
est route would be crossing the Hudson River at New- 
burg, Poughkeepsie, or Catskill, and the Delaware 
River at Milford, on through the northern counties, 
taking this East and West State Road, reaching the 
Ohio River by way of Pittsburgh, or Lake Erie, thence 
by a water communication to whatever western region 
they chose. As our roads now are, when the eastern 
emigrant has proceeded west to Wellsboro, in the 
county of Tioga, he meets with an insurmountable bar- 
rier ; the roads farther west are impassable — he must 
change his direction — leave the State — enter the 
State of New York — make an elbowing, circuitous 
route by way of Elmira or Painted Post, to Angelica, 
Ellicottville, Jamestown, and so on to Lake Erie, ar- 
riving at the lake fifty miles higher up than necessary, 
and having made a circuitous route of more than fifty 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 275 

miles entirely out of his direct course. The conse- 
quence is that we not only lose the benefits of all this 
immense travel, but all those settlers or emigrants 
who, coming from a healthful climate, although they 
seek a new country, yet prefer settling where the cli- 
mate is wholesome, and the water pure, in preference 
to risking their lives and jeopardizing the vigor of 
their constitutions, in seeking the rich lands, but un- 
wholesome and sickly climate of the West, settle down 
upon the new lands in the southern tier of counties 
of New York, while our northern counties, equally 
healthy, and land equally good, if not superior, must 
remain measurably a barren and uncultivated wilder- 
ness. 

Sir, in saying that the northern counties possess 
equal inducements for settlement with those adjoining 
us in the State of New York, I but reiterate the un- 
doubted testimony of the many gentlemen with whom 
I have conversed on the subject, who have traveled 
through the different counties in both States. In- 
deed it is but a natural conclusion. They are in 
nearly the same latitude, directly adjoining each 
other, the soil, timber, and all their localities compara- 
tively similar, and yet while the four counties I have 
named have not even now a population of twenty 
thousand, the adjoining counties in the State of New 
York — Tioga, Allegheny, Cattaraugus and Chau- 
tauqua — have a population of more than four times 
that number. To what then is this vast disparity 
of population on our side owing? There is but one 
answer, an answer responded by every individual who 
is acquainted with the two sections of territory. The 
superior state of their common roads, in comparison 



276 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

with the inferior, impassable condition of ours; that 
the difference is not owing to any inferior quality of 
our soil will be proven by the knowledge deduced from 
the actual experience of some gentlemen now honored 
with a seat in this hall, if they choose to say anything 
upon the subject. 

Sir, if a pioneer leave an old settled country, where 
he has been accustomed to the enjoyment of good 
roads, and seek a local home in a new country, — in a 
" stranger land " — what is the first object of his anx- 
ious inquiry? It is as to the condition of the roads. 
I care not if the luxurious soil and gurgling streams 
present as fair a prospect as did the Garden of Eden 
before the fall of our great prototype, the newcomer 
will turn with a sickened eye and abandon the country 
in disgust, if it possesses not the facility of good roads, 
or at least a fair and encouraging prospect of them. 
For the very reason, the want of passable roads, the 
State of New York gets thousands of settlers, while 
we rarely get a single one. That part of her State to 
which I have alluded has become a cultivated field, 
adorned with flourishing villages and manufactories, 
while that portion of our own to which I have ad- 
verted, remains, measurably, a rich but neglected wild. 
In this view of the subject, it is to my mind past all 
contradiction, that the only feasible course to reap 
the full benefits of our territory in the north, is by 
aiding the inhabitants in making at least one good 
passable thoroughfare through those counties, 

This improvement, sir, is of vast importance to the 
inhabitants of those new counties — it is their only 
hope; and I trust the justice of this legislature will 
not deny them the trifling boon they now for the first 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 277 

time ask of this commonwealth. Among others, there 
is a prominent reason which induced those people to 
ask this improvement — that at Pittsburgh, in our 
own State, the heavy articles of iron, lead (crude and 
prepared for paints), nails, glass, linseed oil and salt, 
can be purchased at from ten to twenty per cent, 
cheaper than the same articles can be purchased in 
the vicinity of the Erie Canal, from whence they are 
now brought. At ordinary stages of water in the Alle- 
gheny River, common keel boats ply between Pitts- 
burgh and Warren, in Warren County, the termina- 
tion of this proposed improvement. Those articles 
can be boated up the Allegheny to Warren for from 
fifty to sixty cents per hundred; from the mouth of 
Kenzua Creek on the Allegheny, whence they would 
have to be carried by land upon this road, is but 
twenty-eight miles to the county seat of McKean 
County. From that county seat to Rochester, on the 
Erie Canal, whence we now get those articles, is one 
hundred thirty miles, all by land carriage. If then 
this improvement were made, the inhabitants of Mc- 
Kean County would save one hundred miles of land 
carriage, and get those expensive necessaries for con- 
sumption at a much cheaper rate — but what is of in- 
finitely more importance to the State, keep the trade 
of our territory within our own boundary, and among 
our own inhabitants. Such is the bad condition of 
the road I have mentioned, it is the fact that, within 
my knowledge, for the last six years, a loaded wagon 
has never attempted to pass from McKean County 
to Warren — a wagon sometimes passes, but never at- 
tempts to carry a load — the wagoner may stow in a 
small part of one, but if he does so, he must be careful 



278 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

to carry an axe with him, to clear the road of timber 
fallen across it and other impediments. 

But the most important point of view in which this 
object can be placed is the connection of the northern 
counties with the public improvements. Upon what, 
sir, are the canals and railroads, particularly the north 
and west branches, to depend for a sufficient amount 
of business to make them profitable, unless it be the 
country by which they are immediately or collater- 
ally surrounded? I answer, that, independent of the 
business and productions of the surrounding country, 
they have but one solitary reliance, the mineral pro- 
ductions of coal and iron. I ask for whom were these 
gigantic canals and railroads made? Were they con- 
structed to form a rich monopoly for the State? No, 
sir, they were made at the expense of the people — it 
was by their money and their responsibility that their 
construction was effected ; even the people of the four 
counties I have named have the past year been taxed, 
and paid $3,000 towards paying the interest on the 
canal loans; and shall these people who have cheer- 
fully contributed the avails of part of their hard 
earned industry toward their erection, be shut out 
from the benefits of the system? No, sir, the good 
sense, the justice, of every gentleman upon this floor 
will respond the negative to such a proposition. The 
only connection which the people of those counties 
can have with the state canals, is with the west branch 
canal at Jersey Shore. It will be observed that the 
line of the road which this appropriation is contem- 
plated to improve, is within sixty-four miles of the 
point on the west branch canal I have stated. From 
the experience of the past season in transportation 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 279 

upon that canal, it is most probable that the price of 
tonnage from Philadelphia to Jersey Shore will be 
from sixty-five to seventy cents a hundred, while the 
expense of tonnage from the city of New York, on the 
Erie Canal, to Rochester, the great western depot 
from which those counties receive their merchandise, 
averages from seventy -five to eighty-seven and a half 
cents per hundredweight. From Rochester to the line 
of this road, in McKean County, is a distance by land 
of one hundred thirty miles, transportation of mer- 
chandise from the Canal costing $1.50 per hundred- 
weight. Thus, it is readily seen that by connecting 
those counties with the state canals, by passable roads, 
there would be a considerable saving, of expense in 
the water carriage, and a saving of one-half the dis- 
tance by land carriage. 

Sir, those counties never can have a connection in 
a business or commercial point of view with Phila- 
delphia, the great natural metropolis of our own 
State, unless the commonwealth aid them in making 
at least one passable thoroughfare. It is not, in the 
very nature of things, to be expected, at least for ages 
yet to come, unless they have aid. Look for one mo- 
ment at their condition : But a few years ago all that 
part of the State, containing, as I have said before, 
two million five hundred thousand acres of land, was 
a trackless wilderness. Gentlemen who have ob- 
served the progress of settlements in a new country 
will have noticed that those who first venture upon 
the privations and hardships incident to all early set- 
tlements, emigrate principally in small parties from 
the same neighborhood ; — for the reason of early par- 
tiality, common enterprise, and mutual interest, they 



280 LIFE AND WOKKS OF 

make a lodgment in some part of the new country 
contiguous to each other, as it were in a body. By 
this means they cultivate a society among themselves 
— they go on to build mills, encourage a school and 
so on. Another party, from another quarter of the 
old country, make a lodgment in another, and prob- 
ably distant part of new lands, so that these settle- 
ments are dispersed over the wild lands at distances 
of five, ten and fifteen miles from each other. In the 
infant state of these settlements, the farmers are only 
able, even with the assistance of the taxes arising from 
the unseated lands, to open and keep the roads pass- 
able from the little improvement of one farmer to that 
of another — leaving the whole distance between 
neighborhood and neighborhood, nearly impassable. 
It may be supposed by some gentlemen that the un- 
seated land tax, which has been so judiciously pro- 
vided for their assistance by the wisdom of the legis- 
lature in former times, would be sufficient to keep 
these roads in a passable condition. Such, however, 
is not the fact. In the county of McKean, with which 
I am more particularly acquainted, the average 
amount of the road taxes annually laid is about $3,000. 
The amount of roads laid out, opened and kept in re- 
pair by this fund, called township roads, is about 
three hundred eighteen miles — an equal distribution 
of the taxes to be laid out upon those roads, in the 
repairing of decayed bridges, clearing out the im- 
mense masses of timber which frequently fall across 
them in what is called high blows, or hurricanes in the 
spring and summer, when the ground is wet and soft, 
the trees being exceedingly tall and liable to be 
affected by a strong wind, is but ten dollars per mile 



OELO JAY HAMLIN 281 

— a sum which, though it is highly useful, yet it is 
quite too small to be of the least service in the con- 
struction of a permanent road — it is barely sufficient 
to mark out and keep open a track to guide the traveler 
through the desert. The roads through Tioga, Pot- 
ter, and McKean, owing to the nature of the soil 
over which they pass, are exceedingly difficult of 
structure, from the abundant growth of timber and 
the porous alluvial quality of the soil, a permanent 
road can only be formed by clearing the soil of roots, 
and throwing up a formation like an oval, and cutting 
a deep ditch to carry off the water, on each side. 
By pursuing this course, in cutting a ditch of one or 
two feet deep, that portion of the earth taken from 
the bottom of the ditch and thrown upon the top of 
the road, being a very stiff clay, or hard pan, on ex- 
posure to the sun, becomes almost as hard as a pave- 
ment, makes a pleasant road, and is quite durable 
when used by teams carrying an ordinary burden. 
The nature of the soil is such that it is of little use 
to attempt an improvement upon the roads unless 
they are finished in the manner I have described. 
The present state of the road I have spoken of is in- 
describably bad. In passing over it to attend the 
courts at a wet season of the year, my horse has often 
sunk so deep into the mud as with great difficulty to 
be able to extricate himself, and I have felt my life 
in danger from his getting his feet fast among the 
roots and springing with all his might to get re- 
leased from the difficulty. 

Sir, I have before alluded to the connection of 
those counties with the canals. The people have been 
compelled by necessity, that universal law which 



282 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

knows no bounds, to improve the only roads they have 
in a passable condition, in the direction of the State 
of New York; for it may be observed that this East 
and West Road is but from seventeen to twenty miles 
from the New York State line, and when that line is 
crossed there are good roads, while, on the other hand, 
a connection with the good roads of our own State is 
three or four times that distance. The trade of these 
counties is, therefore, with the city and State of New 
York, from necessity, and not from choice. The 
chain of trade now formed between them and New 
York is daily growing stronger and stronger — every 
day, nay, every moment, adds to it a new and a more 
firmly wrought link, and, sir, unless they have aid 
to make at least one road leading towards your canals, 
that aid, too, granted soon, the last link in the bond 
of the commercial connection with New York will be 
riveted forever, past all severance. There is but one 
way to break that chain — aid them to make but one 
leading road, and the bond is burst asunder; for aid 
at this time of their greatest need, they rely with con- 
fidence on the justice and liberality of this legislature. 
Sir, will this house, in withholding justice from 
them on this occasion, drive them to pursue the course 
of their deluded brethren of South Carolina, compel 
them to throw themselves upon their reserved rights, 
resort to nullification and send their representatives 
to legislate with instructions to vote directly hostile 
to your internal improvements. I will not present 
such a picture — no, they will never prove recreant 
to the best interests of the State to which they are 
devoutly attached. They are proud to be called citi- 
zens of the great and flourishing State of Pennsyl- 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 283 

vania. They view with pleasure those gigantic 
improvements which indent our territory in almost 
every direction — they are justly proud that their na- 
tive State and the State of their adoption stands forth 
undaunted in the van of that glorious system of in- 
ternal improvement which is so rapidly pervading the 
Union; but when they are compelled to reverse the 
picture, and see their own embarrassed condition, they 
are goaded on to weep for their misfortunes and cry 
out, " Is there no balm in Gilead? " Isolated from 
all connection with your public improvements — shut 
out from the rest of the world by the bad state of their 
roads, they would despair, but for their reliance on 
the justice and magnanimity of this legislature, to 
whom they now humbly, but most earnestly apply for 
relief. And will that relief be refused? Will that 
natural sense of justice which pervades the breast of 
every man, convinced as his judgment must be of the 
fairness of their claim, refuse the trifling boon now 
asked for? From the known justice and liberality 
of the members of this house, I think I read in their 
countenances the answer, No! Sure this honorable 
body will not compel their northern citizens to apply 
the far-famed fable of the lion and the beasts: The 
lion in olden times made a league of friendship with 
a large number of the beasts of the forest to hunt to- 
gether, and then equally divide the spoils of the con- 
quest — the first hunt was successful ; a fine stag was 
taken. It so happened that but four beasts were 
present. The stag was accordingly divided into four 
parts — the lion stalks forth and thus addresses the 
other beasts : " The first," said he, " I claim because 
I am the king of all the beasts of the forest " — it was 



284 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

given him. " The second quarter I claim for my dig- 
nity, being the most mighty of all beasts." That also 
was yielded. " The third quarter I must have, be- 
cause at this time there is a great scarcity of supplies, 
and I must provide for the future while I have it 
in my power." This also was taken. Then stepping 
up to the last quarter, he says : " Having taken 
all the others, this I also take as a matter of course, 
for as there is but one quarter left, it would be folly 
to divide it among so many of you." 

I know, sir, the legislature have the power and the 
dignity — I know that our population is slender and 
weak and nothing can be gained by strength. Justice 
is the only weapon they can use — the only argument 
they can urge, and I trust that argument will not 
be used in vain. Look for one moment to the justice 
of their claim. The two million five hundred thou- 
sand acres of land contained in those four counties 
are nearly all patented. In the three counties of 
Tioga, Potter and McKean I do not believe there are 
five thousand acres of land unpatented. The price of 
patenting those lands at twenty-six cents an acre, 
amounts to the round sum of six hundred thousand 
dollars. The single county of McKean one hundred 
ninety two thousand dollars. This immense sum has 
already gone into the coffers of the commonwealth, 
and been disbursed in the improvements of other parts 
of the State, while those four counties have got com- 
paratively nothing. More than two million dollars 
have already been expended by the State in aid of 
making turnpikes in different parts of the common- 
wealth, particularly the east and west, in which she 
now owns stocks, and yet those counties which have 



OKLO JAY HAMLIN 285 

so largely contributed to these improvements have re- 
ceived but a mere trifle. The enormous sum of 
eighteen million dollars have been appropriated and 
mostly expended on canals and railroads passing 
through twenty -five of the fifty-three counties of the 
State and give an average among the canal counties 
of seven hundred thousand dollars each; yet some of 
the counties I have named have not received one cent 
since the state canals commenced. 

Sir, the citizens of McKean County are a liberal, 
public-spirited people. The only appropriation that 
county has received was in A. D. 1827-1828, when the 
legislature granted one hundred sixty-six dollars a 
mile to the Milesburgh and Smethport turnpike. 
This sum per mile is but a small part of the amount 
required to construct the road, and notwithstanding 
the people were illy able to make up a subscription, 
yet such has been their enterprise that twenty out of 
the thirty-six miles of that road in McKean County 
is now completed. The road cost, at an average, f 550 
a mile. Toward making the twenty miles now 
finished, the State paid but $3000, while the county 
and individuals have paid by individual subscrip- 
tion the comparatively large sum of $8000. This, 
then, is conclusive evidence that if a reasonable ap- 
propriation is made, the people will largely add to 
what is given them by individual subscription to 
make, at least, one passable leading road. I believe 
the amount appropriated by the amendment, should 
it prevail, will be a profitable investment to the State. 
The interest, at five per cent, on the $20,000 to be ap- 
propriated, will be but one thousand dollars a year. 
Those counties now pay a yearly state tax of $3000. 



286 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

It would then require an additional population of one- 
fourth to enhance the state tax sufficiently to pay the 
interest on the appropriation. There can be no doubt, 
if this improvement were made, the population would 
not only soon increase the one-fourth, but would be 
quadrupled. 

Sir, I could dwell longer upon this subject with 
pleasure, but I observe the hour for adjournment is 
arrived, and I am unwilling longer to intrude upon 
your time. I have to regret exceedingly that urgent 
necessity has compelled me to offer this bill as an 
amendment, convinced as I am it could be well sus- 
tained on its own merits. Two reasons have con- 
strained me to offer it at this time. « It may be said 
that since the organization of those counties which I 
more immediately represent, they have, until the 
present session, had but one representative and prob- 
ably may not be represented again for some years. 
For the reason that they have, for years past, 
had no person who was thoroughly acquainted with 
their local interests and wants, they have until now 
omitted asking for aid. I have been here more than 
three months, and from the lateness of the number 
of this bill, on our files, I have great fears that it could 
not be reached in order. I have, therefore, thought 
proper to offer it as an amendment to the original 
bill, which is of a similar character. Another reason 
which to my mind is a strong one, is that if any local 
appropriations are to be made, it is proper that they 
be connected in one bill, that the members may see 
at a single glance of the eye, the whole amount to be 
appropriated ; so that if on viewing the whole amount 
of local appropriations, which the legislature are dis- 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 287 

posed to make, it becomes too great for the exigencies 
of the State to encounter, the several amounts may 
be divided, pro rata, among the several appropria- 
tions. Sir, I am in favor of giving something to those 
counties remote from the public improvements, but 
I am in favor of making that distribution an equal 
one. Equality is one of the first principles of all our 
republican institutions — it was the great principle 
contemplated in the formation of our government. I 
am, therefore, not for a partial but for an equal and 
general system of legislation. Relying, then, upon 
the good sense, justice, and liberality of the house, I 
now submit this amendment to the candid considera- 
tion of this legislative body, with the most sanguine 
anticipation of a successful result. 



REMARKS ON READ'S AMENDMENT TO THE 
CANAL BILL 

[Mr. Hamlin's remarks on Mr. Read's amendment to the Canal 
Bill, to appropriate $100,000 to the North Branch division of the 
Pennsylvania Canal to be expended between the mouth of the 
Tunkhannock Creek and the Susquehanna River.] 

MR. HAMLIN said : Mr. Speaker, I rise briefly 
to express to this house my entire approba- 
tion of the amendment, offered by the gentleman from 
Susquehanna — Mr. Read. I have listened with 
great pleasure to his eloquent, clear, and dispassion- 
ate arguments of yesterday and to-day, in which he 
has clearly proven to my mind the vast importance of 
the North Branch connection with the great north 
and western lakes. 

I have been equally well pleased to see the gentle- 
man from Beaver — Mr. Lacock — on a former occa- 
sion, record his vote in favor of this improvement. 
Sir, that venerable man, for whose opinions I have the 
most profound respect, at an early period of our inter- 
nal improvements, stood foremost in the van of that 
great system which is about to aggrandize our State ; 
as he was among the first in its support, so, though 
his interests and constituents are at the " far west," 
he will be among the last to desert it. 

I have heard, sir, with some surprise, gentlemen 
upon the floor of this house, attempt to urge upon 
members distinctions between what they call the main 
line and the branches. From what I now know, and 

288 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 289 

have always learned from the course of legislation 
upon this subject, I can make no such distinction in 
legislating. Justice to the best interests of this com- 
monwealth, and to the wisdom of former legislatures, 
justifies me in calling our great system of internal 
improvements emphatically the Pennsylvania Canal; 
without the envious distinction of main line and its 
branches. What, sir, is the Pennsylvania Canal? It 
is that grand connected system of improvements by 
railroads and canals, which spreads its vast benefits 
over nearly the whole face of our territory, forming 
one united whole, unseparated and indivisible, which 
is about to elevate the character of our native State to 
an equal station, in point of internal resources and 
state enterprise with any other State in this flour- 
ishing Union: And what, sir, are the branches? 
They are the great reservoirs which, perforating as 
they do almost every county in the State, are calcu- 
lated to supply the Pennsylvania Canal, and drain 
from the remotest parts of our territory its agricul- 
tural products and mineral resources, to be wafted 
to our Atlantic cities and carry back, in return, the 
rich products of their manufactures, with the various 
comforts and luxuries of life. Sir, I consider any 
distinction with regard to our improvements, odious 
and impolitic ; I am for extending those improvements 
to the inmost recesses of our remotest wilderness; let 
the great scheme already commenced be continued, 
and let the only motto of the friends of the system 
be — onward. 

We now have but a single outlet by our canals — 
that over the Allegheny Portage, at Pittsburgh, on the 
Ohio River; by that connection we have laid open to 



290 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

our view and placed within our reach, the products 
of the great valley of the Ohio; but, sir, it will have 
been observed by every gentleman upon this floor that 
the Ohio Canal running through the interior of the 
State, passes from the northeast to the southwest, 
from Portsmouth on the Ohio River to Cleveland on 
Lake Erie. Let me for one moment ask which is the 
more consistent probability with regard to the trade 
from the interior of Ohio — that the farmer or mer- 
chant will descend the Ohio Canal to the Ohio River, 
pass up that river, having his canal boat towed by a 
steamboat, enter the Pennsylvania Canal at Pitts- 
burg, pass up the Kiskiminetas to the Allegheny 
Portage, there submit to a transshipment of his load- 
ing, to the slow and expensive operation of conveying 
his tonnage across the Portage on the railroad, and 
again submit to the expense of procuring a foreign 
boat to convey his loading to Philadelphia; or, start 
from the rich interior of Ohio with his own boat and 
horse, pass up Lake Erie into the Erie Canal, thence 
by the Chemung Canal to the North Branch of the 
Susquehanna and so on to Philadelphia. It is a prop- 
osition that needs no other demonstration than barely 
a statement of the question. I apprehend there is no 
man who is governed by reason in making up his 
judgment upon the subject, but must at once see the 
vast importance of forming a complete, continuous 
water communication with the Lakes, and I hazard 
nothing when I say that the decision of former legis- 
latures in authorizing the construction of a railroad 
across the Allegheny Portage, and the experiment of 
competent engineers, having investigated the subject, 
prove beyond all power of controversy, that the pro- 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 291 

posed connection by way of the North Branch of the 
Susquehanna and Chemung rivers, is the only one by 
which a continuous water communication can be 
made. I have, sir, no inimical disposition towards 
the proposed connection with Lake Erie, by the 
Beaver and Shenango route; I am in favor of that 
connection; it is a valuable desideratum in consum- 
mating the chain of our internal improvements. It 
will afford great facilities in promoting our interests 
in the trade of the West, as well as be of great impor- 
tance in opening a communication through those 
counties in which this improvement is to be made. 
But, sir, in no way can there be a continuous water 
communication but in the way I have before stated, so 
as to render this State participant in the trade of 
the inland seas of the North and West; hence the 
obvious necessity of prompt legislative action upon 
this interesting subject. Sir, when that portion of 
our improvements contemplated to be completed by 
the provisions of this bill as originally reported to the 
house shall have been completed, we shall have rising 
of 700 miles of railroad and canals made by the State 
within its limits. The distance as stated by the gen- 
tleman from Susquehanna — Mr. Read — required to 
extend the North Branch Canal from its present 
termination to the state line, and forming the pro- 
posed connection with the Lakes, is but fifty miles; 
then, sir, let gentlemen reflect that that fifty miles is 
but one-fourteenth part of the amount of improve- 
ments which will have been made when the provisions 
of this bill shall have been carried into effect. Sir, 
suppose there had been discovered a most valuable 
and productive gold mine within sight of this town, 



292 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

at the foot of the Cumberland Mountains, and the 
ground between the town and the mine, a perfectly 
impassable morass: the inhabitants of the place 
should associate their fortunes together for the pur- 
pose of constructing a causeway over that morass. 
They should go on vigorously in the prosecution of the 
work, and construct a permanent erection at an ex- 
pense of some fifteen or eighteen thousand of dollars, 
fourteen parts of the whole distance should be com- 
pleted, and but one-fifteenth yet to do, could there be 
found one man among all those who had embarked in 
the enterprise, so inconsistent, so lost to the interests 
of the association, so grossly ignorant and reckless of 
his own interests and the prosperity of the country, 
as to stop short in the prosecution of the work, which 
had already cost a good share of their fortunes, and 
wantonly abandon the enterprise when they had got 
within a stone's throw of the great treasure? Sir, 
the cases are to my mind analogous; a strict parallel. 
The State of Pennsylvania has already expended from 
fifteen to eighteen millions of money in the construc- 
tion of what will be, when finished, a connected chain 
of improvements, extending in different directions 
some seven hundred miles. I now put the question 
home to the members of this enlightened body : Will 
you, who compose at least a goodly share of the wis- 
dom of this commonwealth, stop short in your grand 
career, stop on the very threshold of your enterprise, 
and by doing so, elude the object of your ardent pur- 
suit, eschew the benefits resulting from the wh^e 
plan, barely because it requires one-fifteenth part 
more to be expended, than has already been bestowed, 
to complete this design? 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 293 

Is Pennsylvania so selfish, so contracted in her 
views, that she is afraid to approach the borders of a 
sister State, fearing that the State of New York will 
share with us and participate in our trade, as though 
our canals by their very touch upon the line of New 
York would contaminate her? No, sir. I hope no 
Pennsylvanian will advocate such a doctrine. What 
has been the example of New York? Their first and 
primary object was to connect their Atlantic cities 
with the Great Lakes. By that connection the people 
of New York have placed themselves upon an elevated 
summit on the subject of state improvements, above 
their contemporaries. It remains for Pennsylvania 
to go on and complete the original design of a connec- 
tion by water communication with those lakes, and 
redeem her character for wisdom and consistency, 
which otherwise will sink into oblivion. It has been 
said that the system is becoming unpopular: the 
causes of its unpopularity, if indeed it has become so, 
have been well explained by the gentleman from Sus- 
quehanna (Mr. Read), and several other friends of 
the system ; those causes have been more satisfactorily 
explained by other gentlemen, than anything I could 
say would do. As to the common comprehension and 
unlettered mind, the solar system, the sun for its cen- 
ter, with the planets revolving around it in all the 
grandeur and harmony given it by its original great 
author; so our splendid system of internal improve- 
ments conceived in the wisdom of our former legisla- 
ture and prosecuted with energy by consent of the 
latter, extending over almost all parts of the State, at 
an expense of eighteen millions of money, in its design 
and execution seems to many of our citizens a subject 



294 LIFE AND WOKKS OF 

incomprehensible, as ever expecting a reimbursement 
for its enormous expenditures. 

But, sir, when this subject is viewed in its proper 
light, there is nothing in it so very appalling. We 
have the example and experience of the State of New 
York for our guide. It is probably known to every 
gentleman who is honored with a seat in this house 
that at the expiration of the first five years after the 
commencement of the Erie Canal, the tolls did not 
amount to more than sixty -four thousand dollars, and 
this too, at a period when the whole line was finished ; 
while ours amounted last year, in their unfinished 
state, to fifty-five thousand dollars. It is also known 
that at the expiration of the next five years after the 
completion of the Erie Canal, the whole amount of 
tolls did not more than pay the interest on the canal 
loans, including the cost of repairs. The State of 
New York, too, resorted to taxation — the people mur- 
mured and raised the standard of opposition ; but the 
mind of the justly celebrated Clinton — the original 
projector of that great project, who gave to its motion 
its first impetus, aided by the enlightened statesmen 
who supported him and the cause in the days of its 
greatest trial — pressed on, outrode the storm and 
completed that design which is now the irrefutable 
proof of the benefits of the system. I earnestly beg 
the members of this legislature no longer to hold up 
taxation as a rod of terror, to prevent the raising of 
funds for the completion of that system of improve- 
ments, which, if finished, will be an imperishable mon- 
ument of the wisdom, enterprise and greatness of our 
native state. Shall Pennsylvania be found in the 
background in this day and age of improvement? No ; 



OKLO JAY HAMLIN 295 

I am proud to say her citizens have the good of their 
country too much at heart to falter for one moment, 
when to do so, must render her truly ridiculous and 
contemptible. I ask those gentlemen who have 
opposed this bill to oppose it no longer, but rather 
lend their efforts to convince their constituents of 
what, I trust, when they reflect coolly, they must see, 
that the speedy completion of the public works, with 
their connection with the Lakes, is, beyond all doubt, 
what the best interests of the State require. Let them 
sacrifice their sectional feeling and prejudice, if they 
have any, on the altar of their country — by so doing 
they will be richly entitled to the gratitude of pos- 
terity. Gentlemen have seemed to apprehend that by 
continuing the present system of our improvements 
we shall incur an unproductive state debt, compara- 
tively as monstrous as that which is suspended a dead 
weight over the heads of the people of Great Britain — 
a debt of 770,000,000 [pounds?] — an unproductive 
national debt from which there is not the most distant 
probability that they can ever be redeemed. Sir, the 
canal debt of Pennsylvania is in every respect distin- 
guishable — it is a productive investment, from which 
there cannot be a shadow of doubt there will soon be 
derived sufficient to pay its interest, but will event- 
ually redeem the principal. 

Is there anything so very terrible in the present 
system of taxation in Pennsylvania? It would seem 
to me there is not. Let it be remembered by every 
Pennsylvanian, that their former agents in the legisla- 
ture, who have sanctioned our improvements by au- 
thorizing loans, have been most remarkably successful 
in devising such a scheme of taxation that the people 



296 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

are only required to take their money to pay the tax 
out of one pocket with one hand and put it into the 
other pocket with the other hand. The same law that 
authorizes the levy of a tax to pay the interest on 
loans, requires that every dollar of taxes paid should 
be placed to the credit of the common school fund, and 
when that fund shall have amounted to one hundred 
thousand dollars, it shall be applied to the noble pur- 
pose of establishing and supporting common schools 
throughout the State. Then who among the people 
will murmur at paying the paltry pittance of a trifling 
tax, when every farthing of it is to be eventually ap- 
plied to so exalted a purpose? I ask, gentlemen, to 
point out a single one of their constituents so narrow 
in his views, so contracted in his wishes, so lost to all 
sense of the public good and even his own individual 
interest, as to begrudge a few shillings, or even dol- 
lars, which is to be applied to such important and use- 
ful objects. Sir, who would not, as a citizen of Penn- 
sylvania, be proud to contribute to such an object; an 
object calculated to raise an imperishable monument 
of our greatness, sublime in its contemplation as ben- 
eficial in its results, worthy of the exalted character 
of the present age, as glorious in the estimation of 
posterity. 

Mr. Speaker, I put this question solely upon the 
ground of the public good, and I ask other gentlemen 
to take a similar view of it. It is entirely a question 
of expediency and state policy ; that the connection of 
the waters of the Delaware and the waters of the Sus- 
quehanna, with Lake Erie, by a continuous water com- 
munication, thus forming a connection with two thou- 
sand miles of inland water navigation by the Lakes 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 297 

and Rivers of the West, would be a most valuable 
acquisition to this State, I trust no gentleman of this 
enlightened body will for a moment hesitate to believe. 
Though I have the honor to represent a portion of your 
State which is one hundred miles distant from any of 
the public works, although our new counties are 
measurably a dense wilderness, our people by no 
means wealthy, their lands not paid for, their roads 
nearly impassable, although an almost impenetrable 
cloud of adversity hangs over them, and they never 
have received but a mere trifle of governmental patron- 
age, so liberally bestowed upon more favored parts of 
the commonwealth, yet in 1825 they sent a delegate 
to the canal convention, that delegate supported the 
measure, and ever since, true to themselves and the 
best interests of the State, they have uniformly sup- 
ported the system ; liberal, to a fault, they cheerfully 
pay a tax which surely benefits them not, individually, 
but adds to the public good. Permit me to say they 
hope yet to see a reciprocation of that liberality exer- 
cised towards them by their sister counties of this 
commonwealth. I believed a double track to the Co- 
lumbia and Philadelphia Railroad was called for by 
the exigencies of the public ; I gave it my vote ; I now 
respectfully put it to gentlemen, from south and east- 
ern counties, benefited by the improvement, to extend 
the same liberality towards that section of our State 
where the improvement I contend for is so necessary to 
be made, that I have extended towards their improve- 
ments. Sir, what I have done was barely in accord- 
ance with my duty. I claim no applause for it from 
any man ; I believe no man is entitled to an encomium 
barely for having done his duty ; that is a paramount 



298 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

principle for the performance of which he deserves no 
credit, but for the neglect of which he deserves the 
highest censure. I ask you gentlemen to vote for the 
amendment, solely on the ground of sheer justice. 

When I rose it was my intention to make but a few 
remarks ; the general merits of the North Branch route 
have been so fully and ably set forth by the gentleman 
from Bradford — Mr. Lewis — and the gentleman 
from Susquehanna — Mr. Read — that anything I 
could add would be but a repetition ; but I cannot feel 
it my duty to resume my seat without urging upon 
members the necessity of the immediate passage of the 
bill under consideration. 

The people feel a deep interest in this subject — 
they are extremely anxious the work should press on, 
else why is your desk loaded with petitions which are 
flowing in upon us daily, urging the immediate pas- 
sage of this bill. Our worthy executive magistrate 
has urged this upon us as a consideration of the first 
importance. It would seem that the Almighty Dis- 
penser of all good has been greatly propitious the 
present season, insomuch that the winter has been re- 
markably favorable for canal and railroad operations ; 
the weather has not been so inclement but laborers 
may continue their exertions upon the several lines 
without interruption; but it must be observed that 
upon the Lycoming line of the West Branch the for- 
mer appropriation was expended and notice given to 
the contractors, by the superintendent, that the State 
would be no longer responsible after the 29th of De- 
cember last. In this state of things, some of the con- 
tractors have abandoned their jobs, and dismissed 
their laborers; those laborers being poor and out of 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 299 

employment here and uncertain as to the fate of this 
bill, are constantly leaving the State to seek employ- 
ment elsewhere. Other contractors, relying on the 
justice of this legislature, are prosecuting the public 
works at their own responsibility. This is a degree of 
enterprise which should not pass unrewarded. 

The superintendent and engineers' reports inform 
us that the public and private bridges and fences upon 
that line will cost $51,000 and it may be well to con- 
sider that it is high time contracts were made for the 
timber and lumber to be used in these erections, so 
that they may be furnished by the spring floods. Val- 
uable fields have been thrown open and exposed ; parts 
of the canal are in such an unfinished state that they 
cannot now be fenced. In short, the necessity of the 
country imperiously demands of us prompt action 
upon this subject; as a public necessity, we need but 
look to the consequence of the small and late appro- 
priation of last year. We are told by those having 
charge of the public works on the Lycoming line, that 
the old contracts were abandoned and re-let at an 
advance of 50 per cent, above the original contract 
price. Besides, if it is desired that those improve- 
ments should come into operation in all of next season, 
it will require an immediate appropriation to effect 
that object. I trust members will no longer falter 
upon this question, but give it their immediate sanc- 
tion. 



A LETTER 

Harrisburgh, 12th December, 1832. 

Dear Sir, — 

There has been nothing as yet before the House but 
the ordinary business of the session except a discus- 
sion of Mr. Keating' s resolution relative to the Con- 
stitution of the United States and the Union, which 
has called out several eloquent speeches. Those 
speeches you will probably soon receive through the 
medium of the public journals. From what I have 
already heard, I think there is a good deal of talent in 
the House. 

I regret to say my fears as to our State Road appro- 
priation are somewhat increased since the announce- 
ment of the Committee of Local Appropriations, to 
whom that subject would naturally be referred. It is 
believed that a majority of them are hostile to any 
appropriation of the kind ; an effort has been made by 
some of the members to have their petitions for Local 
Appropriations referred to a select committee, but the 
House has not been disposed to grant that request. 
Whatever may be the fate of your petitions for a State 
Road appropriation, you may rely on my using all my 
exertions to effect their object. I do not wish any- 
thing to be said in your paper as to the House or Com- 
mittees being unfavorable to our application, as at this 
time it would be certain death to our wishes. I sug- 
gest whether it would not be expedient, if our appli- 

300 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 301 

cation should be rejected, to apply to have a Turnpike 
Road Corporation incorporated from Wellsboro to 
Smethport or Warren, to this there would be no objec- 
tion and possibly an appropriation might be obtained 
within a year or two. State Roads are getting out of 
date with the Legislature. 

Yesterday a trial was made to elect United States 
Senator, also another trial made to-day. The votes 
stand nominally for Gen. McKean 36 to 38; for Mr. 
Mulanburgh 18 to 26; for Mr. Rush 41 to 14; for Mr. 
Sergeant 22 to 24 and two or three scattering. If the 
Jackson party unite, they would want two votes to 
make a majority. If the Nat. Republicans and Anti- 
Masons should unanimously agree they might elect by 
a majority of one vote. This, however, it is believed 
they never will do. 

Gen. Jackson has just issued a strong proclamation 
against the Nullifiery. 

Please let me know the result of our arbitrations at 
the earliest opportunity. 

Respectfully, 

O. J. Hamlin. 

N. B. I have not been able to find the book you 
desired me to send you. 

H. Payne, Esq. 



IV 

STUDY OF MENTAL AND MORAL 
PROBLEMS 



MORAL AND MENTAL CULTURE 

I HAVE written this lecture for much the same rea- 
son that was given by a young lady for getting 
married. When asked her reason, she replied, " Be- 
cause I had nothing else to do." And if you will par- 
don me the gentle insinuation, doubtless you have 
come here to listen for the very same excellent reason. 
Be that as it may, we are here together, and I thank 
you for the compliment of your presence. Whether 
you in turn will find anything in what I will say to 
thank me for is an unsettled, as well as a very doubt- 
ful, question. 

The subject to which your attention is invited is an 
exceedingly common one. You need not be told that 
this subject, doubtless, has often been considered and 
discussed both by the learned and the unlearned, 
though I do not now recollect ever to have read an 
essay or a lecture thereon. It has doubtless been 
treated by the sage, the philosopher and the orator, 
in every phase that research and ingenuity can well 
present. There is nothing new to be said : the whole 
field has time and again been thoroughly and fully 
explored. Still we may perhaps profit or be amused 
by reconsidering some thoughts on the oft-repeated 
theme. Indeed, it would be a hopeless task to produce 
a new idea on a subject which has been thought, writ- 
ten and spoken on for ages. An original idea, at this 
stage of the civilized world, is an exceedingly rare and 

305 



306 LIFE AND WOKKS OF 

almost hopeless thing to look for, almost as hopeless 
as the search for the philosopher's stone. We do not 
any of us intend to be plagiarists to steal the thoughts 
of others, but as the thoughts of other men necessarily 
run in much the same channel, we unavoidably write 
and speak the same language and thoughts originated 
by others entirely unconscious to ourselves. Hence, it 
is not really borrowing but reproducing unintention- 
ally what another has thought before. I do not intend 
to borrow from any one the little I have to say unless I 
give credit to the author. Still I have no doubt all 
I shall say has often been much better produced by 
others, not in language but in sentiment, as reflection 
is always profitable by following such thoughts it is 
but little more to you than a review of your own views 
on the subject. Looking into the mirror of your own 
mind you will but perceive in what I say an image of 
what you have seen before. It may, however, be not 
unprofitable to look again at an old picture and re- 
examine its features lest the original impression may 
in time be lost. Your sentiments may not agree with 
mine. You have the undoubted right to think for 
yourselves and believe as you please ; if your judgment 
leads you to a different conclusion from mine you will 
then form your own opinion after having heard both 
sides of the question and that is what should always 
be done in coming to a settled conclusion. A fair con- 
sideration of the question is all that any speaker has a 
right to ask and with that I will be content. 

I premise that by culture I mean development and 
improvement of the faculties sought to be cultivated. 
Moral culture lies as the foundation of all our intel- 
lectual beings, more important than all other faculties 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 307 

because on that one great principle depends the value 
of the whole human character. What are great prin- 
ciples or intellectual powers worth if the foundation 
of exalted moral character is wanting, truly valueless 
to the world and valueless to the person possessing 
them ; like a decayed orange, fair without but rotten 
and unseemly within. Allow me to say, the founda- 
tion of all moral as well as intellectual excellence is 
a firm and undying belief in the existence and good- 
ness of the Supreme Being. Of what practical value 
to the world are the writings of the materialist. To 
be convinced, we need faith in man as well as faith 
in his preaching. If we despise the man, the counsel 
of his writings makes little or no impression on us. 
The rock of infidelity is of all others the most danger- 
ous because it wrecks not the body only but the im- 
mortal spirit, the all-in-all of the mortal man. Then 
shun the demon of man's direst misery. Let us fully 
realize the noble sentiment of the plowman poet, " An 
atheist's laugh a poor exchange for Deity offended." 
A correct standard of moral excellence has been a 
theme of fruitful discussion, for sages and philoso- 
phers of the Celestials more than two thousand years 
ago well defined many moral traits, the chief of which 
were obedience to parents, filial affection, respect for 
the aged and submission to the decisions of the mag- 
istrates. The philosophers of the Middle Ages of 
Greece and Rome formed schools and sects in which 
the tenets of each great master was taught among the 
opinions of the sages of old. Many most valuable 
principles are found. Those taught by the Stoics were 
abstinence, fortitude, courage and indifference to 
bodily suffering. Adopting these principles in prac- 



308 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

tice made brave heroes and courageous soldiers. 
Greece produced the greatest self-sacrificing heroes 
and bravest soldiers of antiquity. These were much 
the result of the teachings of their philosophers. The 
Epicureans taught the mutability and constant 
changefulness of all human things and hence taught 
the enjoyment of the present moment ere it passes and 
is gone forever. These principles of the two schools 
by their combinations made Greece the greatest nation 
then living. The teachings of the Epicureans led to 
many refinements in society and induced that fondness 
for painting, statuary and poetry which made Athens 
the capital of Greece the literary and artistic metropo- 
lis of the world, but it brought with it that fondness 
for luxury which eventually caused the overthrow of 
that glorious commonwealth and subsequently of 
Rome. It remained, however, for him who taught as 
never man taught to fix the true standard of moral ex- 
cellence for future ages. No greater precept of moral- 
ity was ever announced to the world or breathed to 
human ears than that contained in the Golden Rule, 
" Do unto others as you would have others do unto 
you." This is the unchangeable, unerring guide for 
our social and moral actions. This grand sentiment 
stands out in bold relief distinct from all others. It is 
nowhere to be found in the writings of all the ancients. 
It was the Christian era alone that gave birth to this 
greatest, purest and most excellent sentiment, better 
than all before or since said or written on the subject 
of man's moral responsibility. Let this sentiment be 
our guide and we can never err. As a part of the true 
moral code stands preeminently justice and honesty to 
be cultivated for their own sake. These principles are 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 309 

intimately blended, for to be just to ourselves we must 
be honest to our fellow beings. Honesty at the pres- 
ent time seems a kind of conventional term. Some 
men seem to think that to be as honest as the laws 
require is all we need to do, but I hold differently. I 
hold that if I promise to pay my neighbor a sum of 
money by a given day I am not only legally but 
morally bound to meet my engagement, but why am I 
in honor any more strictly bound to pay the sum bor- 
rowed than I am honorably bound to pay my promis- 
sory note falling due at the same time though given 
for some other consideration. In my note, I have 
given not only my verbal promise but my solemn writ- 
ten engagement to pay. What can the casuist find as 
a distinction in the code of honor between a verbal 
and a written promise? I know of none, nor can I see 
any, nor do I believe any exists. The caviler may say 
that if I give but my word, without witness or evi- 
dence, the verbal promise rests solely on an honorable 
engagement and as my creditor trusts entirely to my 
own sense of honor, I am by every principle of the 
moral code of honor bound to pay, because as the cred- 
itor has no evidence unless honor is sacredly regarded, 
there would be an end to all confidence between men. 
True, but is not the obligation that rests on me to pay 
all my honest debts as much binding in the one case 
as the other, for I cannot do justice to myself, my char- 
acter or my creditor in any other way but by fulfilling 
all my honest engagements which I am as much bound 
to do if I give a note as if I give my word. And hence 
my honor is as much at stake to meet my note at ma- 
turity as if my creditor has nought to rely on but 
simply my word or verbal pledge. 



310 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

According to my code of morals, if I buy property 
of my neighbor, say a horse, a carriage or a house and 
lot, they are not strictly mine until I have paid for 
them. Hence, if I sell either of them and receive the 
money therefor and reinvest it in some other kind of 
business, I ought first to pay my creditor, and if I have 
made any profit, that is mine and that profit is all that 
morally belongs to me. When my creditor sells me 
the horse or carriage on trust, he takes the risk or 
hazard that I may lose them and thus be unable to 
pay, but if I sell and get the money for them and pay 
him with the proceeds, he is then sure of his pay, but if 
I buy other property with the proceeds, he is not sure 
of his pay, for I may lose it, and, therefore, morally 
impose on my creditor this new and unnecessary 
hazard. 

If I set up a furnishing store for the sale of agri- 
cultural implements, buy a large assortment on credit 
and vend them to the farmers about the country and 
get my pay for them, I have not morally a right to 
divert the proceeds of the enterprise by using the 
money I received for the implements in the purchase 
of a farm in the country and compelling my creditors 
who trusted me with the implements, my stock in 
trade, my borrowed capital, to collect his debt against 
me by suing for it and being compelled to take the 
country farm at an annual rental, or take his pay in 
a seven years' run of six-month installments for his 
pay. This I do not think is the right system of morals 
to cultivate. I may honestly lay aside the profits of 
my business and when I have enough so saved, I may 
then honestly buy a farm with my profits, but not with 
the money honestly due to my creditor. 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 311 

I hold that the debtor is but a trustee for the cred- 
itor and strictly bound to execute the trust by first 
paying the debt, because the debt or consideration of 
the purchase is really the creditor's and not mine, as it 
was not my capital but his capital, while the profits 
alone strictly belong to me. I believe that if I sell my 
creditor's property for which I have even given him 
my promissory note, which note is not due at the time 
I sell the property, and get my pay for it, I ought to 
discharge my debt for the purchase, in preference to 
re-investing the money in a new business enterprise. 

This may be called a strict rule of the moral code, 
or a strict law of commercial morality. Be it so, but 
if it did exist and was vigorously observed, the busi- 
ness world would go on much more smoothly than it 
does under the rule based on the system of the trite 
aphorism that "to be legally honest is honest enough." 

I mean in these remarks to make not the most dis- 
tant allusion to any individual or set of men, but 
barely to assert the sentiment which I have always 
entertained on this subject. No one is bound by my 
opinion. Perhaps I am wrong. You have listened to 
my sentiment and will judge for yourselves. 

Moral culture should always be founded on the 
strictest rules of personal integrity, always doing 
equal to all. This principle is a sufficient guide to us 
in all our relations to society. In the application of 
this rule, a high and unyielding sense of honor should 
dictate all our actions. Some acts deemed by the laws 
morally honest are sometimes not strictly honorable. 
Where these rules or principles come in contact, let 
honor always prevail and, in the language of the 
Ayreshire bard, " The fear o' hell's the hangman's 



312 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

whip. To haud the wretch in order ; But where you 
feel your honor grip, Let that a' be your border." 

He who lives and dies with a reputation unstained 
by any dishonorable act has merited what is really 
deserving of more imperishable fame than the hero of 
many a blood-stained field " whose conscience with 
injustice was corrupted." He who rules and guides 
his life by the good old homely adage " do as you 
would be done by " in all his social intercourse with 
his fellow beings, he who adopts the principle through 
life of the ancient maxim to " live honestly, hurt no- 
body, and give to every one his due," has best suc- 
ceeded and most successfully improved by his moral 
culture. No emanation from the human mind, no 
work that comes from human hands is perfect. An 
approximation is all the ablest can accomplish, but 
the nearest approximation is an exemplification of 
human power and intelligence that clearly proves 
man's emanation from the Deity. 

The next step in the argument is to discourse on 
the subject of mental culture, sometimes called mental 
training, mental discipline or educational culture. If 
I were asked for my opinion of the shortest and best 
method for this culture, I should answer, learn to 
think, to think correctly, profitably. Every person 
thinks all his life in his waking hours, but how and to 
what purpose does he so think? Do his thoughts run 
like a leaf floating on the water, now a little this way, 
and then a little that way and whichever way the cur- 
rent may carry, or are they subjected to the will and 
guidance of a powerful helmsman? This question is 
of great import to him who asks it of himself. For 
myself I take a marked distinction between the differ- 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 313 

ent modes of culture or mental training. The great 
object of useful and correct thinking is to render the 
thinker intelligent. One may follow out a thorough 
course of educational discipline and, in short, be 
highly educated, and yet be far from truly intelligent. 
Education may consist barely in exercising the organ 
of memory, by learning or committing to memory the 
dogmas or routine of learning taught at the schools 
by the professors or teachers. A man may be deeply 
imbued with the learning of authors. He may have 
studiously committed to memory the wisest maxims 
and the greatest principles of the greatest men of 
ancient or modern times and yet, unless he thinks for 
himself, be very far from truly intelligent. To my 
mind, intelligence consists in the perfect understand- 
ing and practicable application of principles to the 
subject under mental consideration ; it being the use- 
ful and practicable application of principles to the 
concerns of human life that renders a man intelligent, 
much more than barely knowing that such facts or 
principles exist. If a man was capable of committing 
to memory all the learning of both the ancients and 
moderns, the principles and sayings of sages and phi- 
losophers, with the wisdom of men of science, and yet 
if he is not a thinking man, his mind will be little 
better than a great dictionary of terms and ideas with- 
out being really intelligent on any one rational sub- 
ject. It is the practicable application of what we 
know, that renders us intelligent. Hence many 
learned men are the greatest simpletons in the more 
useful and ordinary affairs of life. 

For example, to show the application of the princi- 
ple, or power of thought. Sir Isaac Newton saw an 



314 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

apple fall to the ground. The world had then been 
in existence more than six thousand years. Millions 
of people had often witnessed the same thing every 
autumn of their lives, but no one of those millions 
had probably ever bestowed thought on the subject. 
It had been alike observed by the plowman and the 
philosopher, but no practical idea had resulted from 
the observation. Newton possessed a thinking mind. 
Whatever he saw, he sought to trace to its cause and 
noted its effect. The cause and effect of the falling 
apple revolved in Newton's mind, resulted in the dis- 
covery of one of the grandest principles in the laws of 
nature, which has ever astonished the minds of think- 
ing and reflecting men. The principle of attraction 
and gravitation followed by the discovery by way of 
practical application of the revolutions and sustain- 
ing power which moves and holds together this illim- 
itable system of worlds, the apparent mechanism of 
God's great universe, in the contemplation of which 
the mind of mortal man is lost in wonder and aston- 
ishment. Every law of nature once discovered con- 
tains in practical application the germ of some great 
or useful principle in the laws of nature suggestive. 
Indeed, all the great discoveries or reforms in law or 
government consist barely in the application of some 
great principle. Even the use of the common hand- 
spike in the hands of the log-roller involves a great 
principle by which law of mechanics, universal in its 
application, a great weight is always raised or moved, 
by a small motive power, by removing that motive 
power to a greater distance from the fulcrum than the 
weight to be raised or removed. Hence the further the 
motive power is removed or the longer the lever, the 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 315 

easier the greater weight is lifted or moved. A similar 
principle is seen in the application of the wedge and 
the screw powers, which three principles in the laws of 
mechanics involve most of the essential rules or princi- 
ples which guide the mechanic or machinist and the 
construction and application of machinery. See for 
a moment what the application of the slightest thing 
imaginable has produced. Watt saw the steam move 
the lid on a tea kettle. It involved the great principle 
of steam motive power. In the days of the ancients 
when Troy (immortalized by Homer) was subjected to 
a ten-years' siege, fifty men could row a galley rowed 
by oars containing and carrying two or three hundred 
soldiers, from one to two miles an hour. Now steam 
does the work of millions of men with a power and 
velocity almost outstripping thought or imagination. 
In these days we see the power of thought, of thought 
profitably applied, of suggestions rightfully applied 
to the wants, the convenience and necessities of the 
human race. Let us never lose the benefits which 
these lessons teach us and which observation and ex- 
perience so wonderfully demonstrate. But experience 
shows that the original discoverer of a great principle 
does not always succeed in making the best practicable 
use of it, as it often requires the aid of another mind to 
perfect what the original discoverer failed to see and 
understand. 

For example, Doctor Franklin in the year 1752 
discovered the identity of galvanism with the electric- 
ity of the clouds, but made no other practical applica- 
tion of the discovery than the use of the lightning rod. 
More than three-fourths of a century after, Professor 
Morse in 1832 being present at a conversation between 



316 LIFE AND WOEKS OF 

several gentlemen, among whom was our then Minister 
to France (I think Mr. Kiver of Virginia), on their 
way home in an Atlantic packet ship, heard the min- 
ister, in conversing on the subject of electricity, say 
that Doctor Franklin had succeeded in causing elec- 
tricity to pass along a wire for several miles. Pro- 
fessor Morse remarked, if that was so, he saw no 
reason why a set of signals could not be constructed to 
convey intelligence. His listeners paid no attention 
to the remark, but he remembered the suggestion. He 
never lost sight or thought of the idea until he had 
perfected the electric telegraph; that almost super- 
human invention by which cities, towns and villages 
converse with each other, though hundreds of miles 
apart, as familiarly as neighbors now converse with 
each other, though standing on their own doorstep and 
talking to their next-door neighbor. This doubtless 
soon will enable conversation to be carried on across 
continents, from continent to continent, and from 
ocean to ocean, thus uniting all nations, counties and 
tongues by the magic contrivance of the electric tele- 
graph and as by a volition of the mind a thought may 
be carried from continent to continent mentally, so by 
this wonderful contrivance can the same thing and 
more be done mechanically, by the telegraph referred 
to. Such, then, we see is the result of a single thought 
properly applied to a practical purpose. Of what use 
would the discovery of the polarity of the magnetic 
needle have been but for its practical application to 
the mariner's compass? And by its application, how 
astonishing have been its results. We see then what 
wonders the application of a single thought is capable 
of producing when profitably directed, as also a clear 



OKLO JAY HAMLIN 317 

demonstration of the necessity of such application, 
else the thought, however pregnant of value, falls 
silently, uselessly, on the world and useless to the indi- 
vidual who conceived it. Hence it is in the power of 
thought and its application that all human intelli- 
gence consist. 

What are the most advantageous resources from 
which to draw the aliment, the food for thought? 
What and who, the great teachers of the human fam- 
ily? Obviously, the most prominent are nature, 
books and observation and experience. Nature is the 
never-failing storehouse in which the Creator in his 
wisdom has arranged all the elements of material and 
animal matter and life; in short, the whole economy of 
the universe. To this storehouse we resort to find the 
cause and the effect, the ruling principles of universal 
matter, with the multifarious deductions resulting 
therefrom, the laws of being and the laws of material- 
ity. Man necessarily is a bare copyist and nature is 
the greatest original. Every observation resulting 
from a principle found in the laws of nature gives to 
the human mind one or more suggestions, and it is 
these suggestions that give their applicability to the 
affairs of life, to man's condition here. Hence, in ob- 
serving any principle in the laws of nature, it seems 
man's first duty to himself and his fellows to turn his 
mind to the reflection and ask of himself, Can this 
principle be practicably and beneficially applied to 
any utilitarian object? If it can, then we have the 
application of a new principle, a discovery which may 
benefit the human race or possibly alleviate some pang 
of human suffering. Then is the discoverer a benefac- 
tor to the whole civilized world, and he may well 



318 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

reflect in his declining years that his life has not been 
unprofitable. Everything around us is suggestive, no 
matter whether the thought comes from the plowman 
in his homespun dress with goad in hand, or from the 
professor of alma mater clothed in his Roman toga. 
It is just as valuable in the one case as the other, 
though the one may be given in simple and homely 
language and the other be clothed and surrounded by 
all the prestige of scholarship. They are equally well 
worthy to be treasured up in the cells of memory as 
the rich and precious fruits of observation or expe- 
rience. 

Another subject of food for thought is the never- 
failing recourse to books. These contain the history 
of our race, with the reflections, the observations, the 
experience of the most eminent of those who now live 
or have lived in the circling ages which are numbered 
with the past and would, therefore, have been lost in 
the sea of oblivion but for books. They are the living 
records of the human race. 

We may ask, What books are best for mental cul- 
ture? That depends on what faculty of the mind w< 
wish to cultivate. If, for example, we wish to cul- 
tivate the blues, we have a reliable recourse in sue] 
books as Young's " Night Thoughts " or Pollock' 
" Course of Time." If you read them a second time, 
I'll warrant you to have the dyspepsia. I got the 
disease after a first reading. If you propose a thin 
reading, I advise you to bespeak a straight-jacket be- 
forehand. If we wish to store our minds with sheei 
humdrum, unintelligible, insignificant, trashy non- 
sense, we need but read the yellow-covered literature oi 
the day. It warms up the imagination and creates ai 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 319 

intense and almost breathless interest as to the fate 
or condition of some person who never existed. They 
will give us the most glowing descriptions of scenes 
nowhere to be found. They make the heart ache with 
sympathy for the suffering of the wretched who never 
had even a wretched existence. Real, salty tears are 
shed over the sorrows of a Werter who never had a 
sorrow. The face of the reader turns truly pale at 
the thoughts of the perilous condition, the trials, 
the mortifications, the disappointments of the hero 
or heroine of a sickly sentimental novelist. That 
great old literary bear, Doctor Samuel Johnson, once 
said to a friend who asked how the Doctor liked 
traveling in the country. He replied : " When you 
have seen it once, you have seen all." The same sort 
of hills, of mountains and of streams and rivers, and, 
therefore, the further you travel, the more you see of 
the same thing over and over again. But if you look 
down Cheapside in London, you see an endless va- 
riety of men, women and children which gives a study 
of human character for a lifetime. So it is with a 
wishy-washy novel. When you have read one, you 
have read all. All have a hero and a heroine. All 
begin with courtship and end with marriage, slightly 
varied by incident, all the workings of a distempered 
vision productive of no possible good but not infre- 
quently doing harm, because it is almost a criminal 
waste of valuable time and because they fill the mind 
with most unnatural, overstrained and overwrought 
fictions, entirely unfitting us to meet the cold reali- 
ties of life with proper calmness and dignity. I say 
of them as Macbeth said of physic, " Throw * them ' 
to the dogs, I'll none of it." Look at one illustration 



320 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

of the effect of such reading. A young lady of Phila- 
delphia, well read in yellow-covered literature, and 
having her mind fully stored with sickly sentimen- 
tality, a few years ago fell from the docks into the 
River Delaware. She was seen and rescued, then 
carried home to her father's house and laid on a sofa. 
As soon as sensibility was restored, she clasped her 
hands is a paroxysm of woe and with the deepest 
feeling said to those who stood around her, " Where 
is the young gentleman who so heroically, so bravely 
and so nobly and generously risked his own precious 
life by plunging into the mighty torrent to save me, 
even from a watery grave? Oh, I long to see him, to 
rush in to his embrace and offer him all that I hold 
most dear on earth, my hand, my heart." " Hush, 
hush," said her father, who was sitting by her side, 
" you were drawn out of the water by a great, stout 
Newfoundland dog." 

As a rule, I hold that novel reading is worse than 
useless. The romances of the great magician of the 
North, Sir Walter Scott, and a few of kindred mem- 
ory are the exceptions. Those may occasionally be 
read by way of relaxation from severer studies and by 
way of dessert to the banquet of imagination. We 
may take Longfellow's Hiawatha; but a repetition of 
the dish would be highly injudicious. 

If we seek to store the mind with illustrations of 
human character and events shadowing the records of 
antiquity, profitable food for reflection and for deep 
and useful thought, examples from the past and a 
guide for the future, the great beacons and torch- 
lights of the human race, we always resort to books 
of history and works of science. Books of this de- 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 321 

scription are like cabinets of mineralogy. They con- 
tain specimens of all that is most valuable in the 
past history and experience of the human family. 
Their value as food to the thinking mind cannot be 
estimated. They contain the records of the best 
thoughts and most brilliant ideas of all the minds 
who have gone before us, of men who have lived and 
passed away but who have left an imperishable record 
behind them, not written on brass or on marble, for 
these would have crumbled into dust, but a thought 
once written and enshrined in the magic form of a 
book thus becomes immortal. 

While the Pyramids of Egypt and Thebes, its 
boasted metropolis, have moldered into dust; while 
the works of the architects and builders of those mag- 
nificent edifices and temples once embellished by all 
the power of art, and once the wonder, the pride, the 
ornament of ancient Greece are fallen to ruin and lost 
to the world forever; while inscriptions on tables of 
brass and chiseled on monuments of sculptured mar- 
ble have yielded to the remorseless and hungry tooth 
of time, the bright and burning thoughts of her poets, 
her sages and philosophers come down to us of the 
nineteenth century as fresh and as vigorous as they 
were the day they were first delivered. Such is the 
vast, the illimitable difference between mind and mat- 
ter; the one has written on its face by its Maker in 
indelible characters, from the beginning, change, 
while the other is immortal. 

Do we desire to cultivate the imagination, to fill 
the mind with imagery of the sublime, the pic- 
turesque, the beautiful, to fathom the depth of pas- 
sion and test the emotions, to touch the secret 



322 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

springs of human motives, the hopes, the fears, the 
mysterious workings of the human mind, the human 
heart, in pursuit of happiness or in endurance of the 
pangs of misery? We turn to books of poetry. If 
we desire to cultivate the sublime with the beauti- 
fully descriptive, we may read Milton; if the heroic, 
read Homer and Virgil ; if to fathom the intensity of 
human passion, to study the workings of a living 
soul, that burns with intensity either with passion 
or gorgeous imagery, read Shelley, than whom (had 
he been a Christian) no greater poet ever lived; if 
we wish the workings of a mighty mind shrouded 
in human pride, emanating its flashes of art; its 
scathing satire, its occasional towering flights of 
grandeur and sublimity, read Lord Byron; if we de- 
sire pathos and simplicity with touching, tender sen- 
timent, read Burns ; but if we wish to take the whole 
range of Godlike poetry in a single author, read the 
inimitable Shakespeare, who stands among poets as 
Washington stood among patriots, or Napoleon 
among military chiefs; solitary and alone, without a 
model and without a peer. Allowing me to take a 
moment's digression, I may remark that though Amer- 
ica has produced as distinguished men, as historians, 
its great inventive geniuses in mechanics, its philoso- 
phers, with its statesmen and great orators, it never 
has produced a great poet, but as it is said the times 
produce the man and as the world has now found its 
chess champion in the American boy, Paul Morphy, 
so we may one day have the laurels of the world's 
poet laureate, encircling an American brow. 

In the business affairs of life, in our relations to 
the material world, in our intercourse with our fel- 



OKLO JAY HAMLIN 323 

lows and in our relations to society, there are no more 
potent teachers than observation and experience. It 
being a general law of nature, as one of the laws which 
regulate human actions, that what has once happened 
under like circumstances will under the same circum- 
stances so happen again; and as man is not gifted 
with the power of prophecy, he can only judge by the 
past what the future will be. It is the safest rule 
by which we can plan our operations for the future, 
to regulate them by the experiences of the past. 
Theory is never a safe guide, as experience often 
proves that theory is not an adequate criterion ; while 
observation proves to us that our theories are at fault, 
experience seldom fails to show us the proper path. 
Experience is, therefore, the magic lantern which most 
surely reflects the future by shadowing the past, 
" Coming events cast their shadow before/' and al- 
though the reality of the past is gone, yet their pass- 
ing shadow unerringly points to the realities of the 
future. Hence, the footprints of mortals should be 
made in the shadowy path made by the lamp of ex- 
perience. 

I have said that a man may be learned in the 
dogmas of the schools and yet, in the practical af- 
fairs of life, not be intelligent. Who are generally 
usefully intelligent? The school-taught man or the 
self-taught man? It is a trite saying " that the self- 
made man is the best-made man," and I apprehend it 
is a wise saying. Lord Brougham, one of the brightest 
and greatest intellects of the age now living, has 
said that " self-made men are the most intelligent." 
That is clearly a just conclusion, and why? A self- 
made man or woman must think and think for them- 



324 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

selves, whereas the school-taught man or woman 
allows others to think for them. The self-taught 
look for a reason, a reason which convinces them- 
selves; they do not adopt a principle because some 
other person, whether distinguished or not, has said 
it is so, but because the well-exerted reasoning and 
reflection of their own minds prove it to be so. Hence 
the self-made man is never satisfied short of proof, 
while the school-taught are willing to take their 
opinions at second hand, barely because this or that 
great man or this or that book has said it is so. In 
short, the almost universally acknowledged principle 
that self-made men are the most intelligent is one of 
the strongest arguments in proof of my proposition 
for this discourse, that the best mode of mental cul- 
ture is to learn to think, to think correctly, profitably. 
A wise man seeks culture for utility, the super- 
ficial man seeks it for ornament. Human minds as a 
mass are subject to general laws, like the laws of 
mechanics or the philosophy of nature, and it is ob- 
servation and experience with the thinking mind that 
takes the place of application in the laws or prin- 
ciples of philosophy and the mechanic arts. If a 
thinking man makes an observation of something 
new, he asks himself, " How can this observation or 
this new principle resulting therefrom be profitably 
applied to some useful purpose? " And it is to that 
purpose that all the thoughts, observations and ex- 
periences of the thinking man are naturally directed. 
Consequently, his life is not wasted, but his mind 
contains an inexhaustible treasure on which he can 
always draw at sight, or at a moment's warning. He 
has no fear that he is drawing on an empty treasury. 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 325 

His bills are always honored, but I hold that in the 
use of this treasury, we should not always wait to 
ask, Will it pay? But only ask, Will it do good? If 
it will, draw freely. For in all our intellectual in- 
tercourse with our fellow men, we receive as well as 
give instruction. All modern civilization is the re- 
sult of thought, observation and reflection, and he 
who makes the most and best use of his faculties in 
freely disseminating his knowledge thus acquired is 
the greatest benefactor to his fellow beings. It may 
be truly said of him in a practical point of view, 
" Well done, thou good and faithful servant." 

There is one other mode of mental culture which, 
though I mention last, is not, therefore, the least 
important. It is one which really merits much at- 
tention. I allude to the society of intelligent females. 
By the word intelligent, I do not wish to be under- 
stood as selecting only those called ladies. I mean 
women of amenity, of temper and good sense, those 
who think, reflect and observe and apply what they 
think and observe in a reasonable and useful manner. 
True education gives polish and refinement to the man- 
ners, and the being who is lovely in herself is more 
lovely by adding the adornments, the accomplish- 
ments of education. But if the being is not of itself 
lovely mentally and morally, no art or training of 
the schools can make it really worthy of admiration. 
The society of worthy women is productive of invalu- 
able benefit to the sterner sex. It refines the manners, 
it softens the feelings, it tames the tiger in the breast 
of the dominant and overbearing, for man is fond of 
rule. He feels himself born to yield to no other will 
but his own; but the soldier of the battle field, the 



326 OELO JAY HAMLIN 

senator who sways by his voice the destiny of a nation, 
as well as the business man of the everyday affairs 
of life will yield in the presence of ladies in the draw 
ing room from mere politeness and deference to their 
presence what he would never yield under any other 
circumstances. Their society takes off the rough 
edges from our domineering and sterner character 
and makes us tractable, sociable, reasonable humans, 
while without them we might become mere boors and 
Calibans of a desert, made solitary without the cheer- 
ing presence of God's best gift to man. Women are 
ministering angels by the bedside of suffering. They 
soothe and sustain us in our misfortunes, are our 
solace in adversity, our joyous companions in pros- 
perity, our ruling guide to the path of virtue in this 
life and of happiness hereafter. Neither sex can com- 
pletely fulfill the destinies of its creation without the 
presence, the society of the other. 

Smethport, 22 February, 1859. 



IS A HIGH DEGREE OF MENTAL DEVELOP- 
MENT RESULTING FROM EDUCATIONAL 
TRAINING, PRODUCTIVE OF DISBELIEF 
IN THE BIBLE AND CHRISTIANITY? 

FIRST. Education (so to speak) sharpens the 
intellect and renders it capable of drawing close 
distinctions and refining to sharp points in mental 
thought ; it accustoms us to reason close. 

Second. Education accustoms us to require de- 
monstrative proof for every succeeding step as we 
advance. 

Third. To take an advance step we look before us, 
mentally, to perceive what objections can be taken to 
our advance position, to see if we will have a firm 
foothold. 

Fourth. This becomes a habit of the mind in all 
our process of reasoning, and this overcautiousness 
fixes in the mind a habit of doubting everything not 
clearly demonstrated. In fact, demonstration is the 
requirement of all educational training. And that 
the mind requires to be established beyond the reason- 
able possibility of a doubt. 

Fifth. This habit of reasoning tends to skepticism, 
to doubt everything not demonstrated by positive 
proof. 

Sixth. When the mind begins to reflect or to 
reason upon any one subject, it continues to follow out 
the same subject to a legitimate conclusion, either af- 

327 



328 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

firmatively or negatively considered ; that is the nat- 
ural habit of the mind; if we begin by seeking an 
affirmative conclusion it looks only to the facts or 
argument which go to establish that hypothesis or 
conclusion; for the contrary conclusion if that is 
sought for. 

In other words if we begin to doubt a proposition, 
our thoughts seem to run in that direction; if to 
affirm a proposition, our thoughts run in the affirma- 
tive course ; very much depends on the starting point, 
which way we let the current of thought flow, for it 
will continue the course it first takes. To illustrate, 
suppose it rains, and the drops of water fall on ground 
slightly formed as an inclined plane, a few of the 
first drops that fall on a particular locality incline 
in one particular direction, others soon unite with 
them and take the same direction, others follow and 
soon form a channel, then all that form near the chan- 
nel naturally flow into that channel, and so this chan- 
nel begins to gather up its forces, and finally becomes 
a mighty torrent sweeping and carrying all with or 
before it until it becomes irresistible; and if it were 
a current of facts and argument instead of water, it 
finally produces irresistible conviction. 

Every train of thought naturally takes one of two 
channels, either affirmative or negative, of the propo- 
sition stated, so the result depends mainly on the first 
direction in which the current is made to tend; they 
may easily be made to tend to either of the channels, 
or one channel may be obstructed by a very slight im- 
pediment and turned into the other course; as the 
few first drops of water may be checked in their nat- 
ural course, even by a blade of grass, a twig, a straw, 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 329 

a few grains of earth or a pebble and thus thrown to 
the other channel and so go on with the accumulating 
mass until it forms the torrent. 

Hence, we see the vast importance in our reasoning 
to decide the question of the validity of the Bible and 
the truths of revealed religion, that the mind be made 
to take the channel that leads to the truth, we should 
seek affirmative facts and arguments and not permit 
the mind to waver and doubt from the beginning : As 
the few years of man's life compared with the count- 
less ages of eternity ; so is the incalculable importance 
to each individual of deciding this question of the 
Bible correctly. 

In this view of the subject let us take the affirm- 
ative current and thought and see what evidence we 
can find of the proposition that the Bible is true. 



SPECULATIVE IDEAS OF THE MORAL 
PHILOSOPHY 

QUESTION 

CAN the moral conscience be so educated as to 
make the individual conform his life and ac- 
tions to the Golden Rule? i. e., of " doing to others 
as you would that they should do unto you " ? 

ABSTRACT 

That conscience is mainly an intuitive principle 
is proved : 

First. From the experience of every right-minded 
person who feels that the performance of a right or 
wrongful act strikes an instantaneous feeling, like 
an electric current, home to the inward mentor or 
moral perception. Rousseau says, Conscience is the 
voice of the soul. (La conscience est la voice de 
Perme. ) 

Second. By the fact of the first homicide; for it 
is clear that Cain knew he was a murderer and had 
committed a crime — although, when he slew his 
brother, Abel, the decalogue forbidding the crime had 
not then been promulgated — else he would not have 
hidden immediately from the presence of God. His 
conscience smote him and he felt self -convicted. 

That conscience is a just principle and a Godlike 
monitor is proven by the fact that it is admitted by 
all civilized nations as the sure foundation of all 

330 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 331 

natural law or what is termed the Law of Nature 
and has been adopted by all writers on the Law of 
Nature to be the foundation of that code. All ad- 
mit that. 

" What conscience dictates to be done or warns 
me not to do. 

" This teaches more than hell to show; that more 
than heaven pursue." 

PREMISES 

The conscience may be educated in several ways. 
( See page 349 of this paper, letter " A " note. ) 

1st. By habit resulting from example or one's 
own practice. 

2d. By moral training resulting from teaching or 
reading and reflection, accompanied by observation 
and experience. 

3d. By religious training resulting in like manner. 

4th. From a superstitious observance of things 
seriously believed in. 

The conscience may be educated for evil as well 
as for good. 

PROOF 

1. St. Paul was conscientious and thought he was 
right in persecuting the Christians; resulting from 
religious education. 

2. The Mohammedans educated themselves to be- 
lieve it right to destroy all Christians either by the 
edge of the sword, or by fire, believing it right to ex- 
terminate all those they called infidels. 

3. The ancient Catholics were taught to believe 
it right to burn all heretics, i. e., all not of their own 



332 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

religion, but modern Catholics have considerately and 
charitably abandoned the practice. 

4. The Protestants were taught, in turn, to per- 
secute the Catholics and execute them for denying 
the supremacy of the Protestant King and Church. 
They denied them the free use of their own con- 
sciences but the modern Protestants have aban- 
doned so pernicious a practice. 

5. Even John Calvin consented to the execution 
of Servetus, because he was a Nonconformist. 

6. The Romans persecuted the Christians and cut 
off their heads because they were not pagans. 

7. The people of nearly all Asia, Africa and many 
elsewhere believe it right to practice polygamy; thus 
more than half of the human race are polygamists 
themselves or tolerate it in others. 

8. Many ancient nations were educated to think 
it right to sacrifice human victims to heathen deities. 

9. The Indian thinks it right to kill and some to 
eat an enemy. 

10. A Jew thinks it conscientious to cheat a 
Christian. 

11. A Fiji Islander believes it right to eat human 
flesh and practice cannibalism. 

12. A Hindoo will not eat meat nor a Jew swine's 
flesh for conscience's sake. 

13. The early Puritans either hung or burnt 
witches. 

Now, if we are right in pronouncing the judgment 
that all this catalogue is a catalogue of wrongs and 
so many violations of a just conscience ; then the con- 
verse of the proposition must be true, that if the 
conscience can be educated to do such gross wrongs, 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 333 

and we are educated to refuse to do them and abstain 
therefrom, we can educate our conscience for good. 
It follows as a conclusion, that the problem is solved 
and clearly proves that the conscience can be edu- 
cated either for good or for evil. 

Each individual thus forms his or her own con- 
science, so far as it can be formed by educational 
process. 

But now comes the more difficult part of the ques- 
tion. Can conscience be so educated as to make it 
conform to the Golden Rule? 

Violations of conscience are offenses either against 
the Divine or the Natural Law. A survey of human 
nature proves that the moral perceptions or natural 
dispositions of some people are vile in themselves 
while others are inherently good. 

There are two general grades of crimes or offenses, 
one is, as law writers define it, malum in se (bad in 
itself). The other is malum prohibitum (bad only 
because prohibited ) . Now, that class of people whose 
dispositions are inherently vile will stop at no law. 
Another class will carry their motives of self-interest 
or gratification of passion just so far as they dare 
go and yet stop short of the law of prohibition. They 
are checked only by avoiding to go so far as to break 
the law, while another class, the inherently good, will 
conform to the dictates of conscience and obey its 
law as their rule of moral action. Now, I hold that 
the inherently vile will be restrained by no law, di- 
vine or human; and hence moral suasion will not 
restrain them. Nothing short of Christianizing 
them will prove a reformation, and experience proves 
that but few of them will yield even to that mode. 



334 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

But the other classes, the first may possibly and the 
second most certainly may yield to moral suasion. 
It follows that the two latter classes may possibly be 
educated in foro concientia (before the tribunal of 
conscience), so as to conform to the " Golden Rule." 

How can this best be done? By moral suasion, 
persuading the individual to adhere firmly to the 
cardinal virtues of truth, justice, patience, honesty, 
purity, integrity, temperance and honor, as also the 
Christian virtues of mercy, charity and brotherly 
love, as also to religiously observe the duty of pro- 
tecting themselves by all means and at every hazard 
against the violation of any of those cardinal prin- 
ciples against any enemy that may be their assailant. 
The life of the assailant may even be sacrificed to 
protect the individual from the violation of at least 
one of those cardinal principles. 

Now, when the individual has the conscience so 
educated as that those cardinal virtues are fixed 
principles and become the very touchstones of the 
moral perceptions or conscience, and is resolved to 
keep them inviolate, that individual is fully armed 
and equipped to enter the warfare of life against 
all possible enemies. 

The most terrible enemy a rightly formed con- 
science has to contend with will ever be temptation, 
and hence our Lord's prayer " to deliver us " there- 
from; the temptation of self-interest and passion or 
prejudice are fearful enemies to contend with. 

I can imagine but one security. Let the individual 
summon to his aid an unyielding, uncompromising 
Iron Will, and let that will be a fixed unalterable pur- 
pose of the mind, a controlling power, never under 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 335 

any circumstances to suffer a violation of any of 
those cardinal virtues and always to ask his or her 
own conscience the first great question. " If I do 
this will I violate any of those cardinal rules? " If 
the act proposed does such violation, the Iron Will 
must be brought to the rescue, in the unflinching 
mandate. " I will not do it," or, " I will not suffer 
it to be done." To parley with an adversary is to 
begin to yield the victory. Never doubt or consider, 
but make the will do the work, even though it be like 
the work of a surgeon in amputating a limb. Let it 
rend, tear or crush, but make the will save the con- 
science. (See note 2, page 352.) 

QUERY 

As to the formation of a society and in process of 
time many societies on the plan of a pledge that " I 
will observe and practice all the principles or rules 
of action embraced in the code of the cardinal vir- 
tues (naming them), so long as I live, and never 
violate or permit any of them to be violated." 

A society based on the practical rules suggested 
in this paper and such others as might be suggested, 
might be called " Knights of the Society of the Golden 
Rule," and another to be called " Ladies of the So- 
ciety of the Golden Rule." Whether any practical 
good would be the result, the test of experience only 
could determine and, therefore, I give no opinion, but 
do all that I can do by making the suggestion. 

OF THE MORAL CONSCIENCE AND THE PRACTICE OF THE 
CARDINAL VIRTUES 

The ancient Grecian philosophers adopted the 



336 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

principle that " The practice of virtue carried with it 
its own reward." By " virtue " in this expression is 
meant to convey the idea of virtue " in solids " ; that 
is, all the cardinal virtues consolidated, under this 
one idea expressed by the word virtue; and I see 
no good reason why this expression of the old phi- 
losophers, or maxim, so to call it, had not the same 
force of idea now with us as it had with the ancients, 
though conceived and stated by them more than two 
thousand years ago. Length of time cannot change 
the principle contained in an idea. The principle 
contained in an idea with regard to virtue can no 
more change than truth can change, for truth being 
an essence of the Deity is eternal and immutable. A 
maxim coming from pagan authority is none the less 
to be regarded if it be truth. The maxim or principle 
of Confucius, the Chinese lawgiver, " that we should 
reverence the aged, respect our parents and do unto 
others as we would be done by," is as truthful now as 
when it was written five hundred years before the 
Christian era. And though this aphorism of the old 
Greeks may have been repeated for the tenth or ten 
thousandth time, and though it is no new idea to us, 
it is just as truthful as if it was delivered now for 
the first time. 

There seem to be two warring elements in the na- 
ture of man, a disposition dictated by the spirit of 
good, and a temperament emanating from the spirit 
of evil. The one is the voice of the soul speaking 
through the conscience; the other, the voices of the 
body speaking through the passions; the one leads 
to happiness, the other to misery; the one points the 
way to virtue, the other the way to vice. Our Creator 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 337 

has beneficently bestowed upon us the gift of free 
agency to make the voluntary choice whether we 
shall take the path that leads to misery and destruc- 
tion, or the way to happiness and the gates of heaven. 
Happiness, what is it? How define the expression? 
Shall we say it is a supreme good? At different pe- 
riods of my life I have understood the term differ- 
ently; in my youth, I associated it with the idea of 
pleasure, the perfection of all earthly enjoyment, 
something nearly allied to perfect bliss; later ex- 
perience proved the fallacy of that idea. Such a con- 
dition as perfect enjoyment, unalloyed felicity, does 
not exist on earth. The glowing, hopeful, trustful 
fervency of youthful imagination may anticipate the 
fruition of a perfect unalloyed state of earthly en- 
joyment, but time changes all things, and nothing 
more than this. The beautiful illusion of our once 
too active fancy, soon is made to fade from our vis- 
ion, dissolved by the same power by which it was 
created, the enchantment of youthful imagination, 
and in after years we stand, not alone, but disen- 
chanted, as the golden dream dissolves and is gone 
forever. Our youthful idea of happiness is like an 
invocation to the days of our childhood, " Friends 
of our youth, where are they?" and echo answers, 
"Where are they?" I now see that the idea of a 
state of perfection of earthly pleasurable enjoyment 
is an illusion. It does not exist in nature. Never- 
theless, we may yet find a fitting definition of the ex- 
pression, earthly happiness, e'er we close this paper. 
I may ask, " Does the word pleasure convey a com- 
prehensive idea of happiness? " The idea of pleasure 
addresses itself to the senses, pleasure acts upon the 



338 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

senses and through that medium conveys to the body 
and the mind the idea of gratification or satisfaction. 
For example, it is pleasurable to listen to the sweet 
thrilling sound of music, that power which moves the 
emotional feelings by sound; or to gaze on a charm- 
ing landscape, an admirable picture, or the exquisite 
perfection of nature in any form. Much of the 
pleasure of life consists in interchange of ideas be- 
tween friends in the social circle; while the smiles 
of that fickle goddess Pleasure are sought by all her 
giddy worshipers in the charmed circles of amuse- 
ments; in the sensual gratifications at the convivial 
board, in the thousand ways through which the senses 
are gratified; but when we analyze the kind of 
enjoyment we derive from them, we find they are 
mainly the result of excitement and any pleasurable 
experience resulting from excitement is never per- 
manent, never lasting, but is always feverish and 
fitful as a midsummer night's dream. Like the rain- 
bow it may be transcendently beautiful, but soon 
melts and fades away like a dissolving vision. It is 
not happiness after all, because it often leaves a 
sting behind. It often leaves a twinge upon the con- 
science, often an inkling of regret, often a feeling of 
lassitude and reminds one of a line of the old song, 
" My false lover pu'ed the rose, and left its thorn to 
me." 

Perhaps the best and most complete idea of rational 
happiness is conveyed by that ancient Athenian phi- 
losopher Epicurus, who was contented to live on bread 
and water and declared that the summum bonum 
(chief good) of human life consisted in a " tranquil 
mind." Undoubtedly, the possession of a contented, 



OKLO JAY HAMLIN 339 

serene and tranquil mind, with bodily health is the 
" beau ideal " of human happiness. 

Happiness is not a positive term. It is equally 
a negative one. It consists quite as much in the ab- 
sence of care and all the other disturbing elements 
of mental repose as it does in the possession of ra- 
tional enjoyment. It is also a qualified or compara- 
tive term and never can be the realization of perfect 
bliss, for the latter state nowhere exists short of the 
spirit land. It is perhaps a dream of the perfection 
of human life rather than its realization, and yet to 
mortals it is the fascinating goal to which we all 
aspire, the ne plus ultra (nothing more beyond) of 
human existence. 

I have said that the practice of virtue leads to 
happiness ; and what is virtue? The Komans adopted 
the word as the idea of courage, valor, heroism and 
strength in combat, making it as much a physical as 
a mental quality. The Greeks adopted it in the he- 
roic sense also, but superadded the qualities of pa- 
tience, fortitude and prudence with those of the 
moral excellence of man's nature, while the moderns 
of the present and few past ages have associated the 
word and the idea only with that of the moral good- 
ness of the mind and character. With us, it stands 
as a synonym for all that is good and really valuable, 
as the main characteristics of human excellence ; love 
of truth, purity of mind and body, adoration of 
justice, good faith in observing our natural or as- 
sumed obligations to ourselves, to others and to so- 
ciety; in other words, performing our duty and our 
whole duty in the sphere of life in which we are 
placed without fear or partiality; in the exercise of 



340 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

those Christian qualities, mercy and charity, with a 
kind heart towards our fellow beings; in a word, in 
exercising all those moral excellencies which render 
us as intelligent human beings fitting representatives 
of that Godlike Spirit which a beneficent Creator 
has so wisely and kindly placed within us, being con- 
trolled by a pure and upright conscience. The con- 
templation of a virtuous character is the contempla- 
tion of an object or character of moral sublimity. 

And what is Truth? It is the axis which supports 
and around which all the moral machinery of that 
wondrous and powerful engine of human motive pro- 
pulsion called the moral conscience, turns. It is the 
foundation which supports the whole fabric of the 
moral structure, the base upon which the Temple of 
Justice rests. It is the keystone of the arch which 
holds the moral fabric together, and good faith, hon- 
esty and integrity are the cement which binds and 
firmly unites the whole moral fabric into one solid, im- 
movable, adamantine mass, enduring alike the as- 
saults of passion, of prejudice and the corroding 
influence of time. 

Like the sun in the center of our solar system, it is 
that power which attracts and around which roll all 
the lesser orbits of the moral system ; and like the sun, 
it is the great luminary which lights the whole moral 
universe; like the force of gravitation, it attracts, 
holds together, and causes to move in perfect har- 
mony, in the several spheres of their action, every 
quality which belongs to the great moral universe of 
moral ideas. 

It is the foundation upon which the whole system 
of the moral laws rest. Take truth away as the fun- 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 341 

damental rule and the whole superstructure of the 
moral fabric would crumble into atoms and fall into 
fragments of a mental ruin. It is the cohesive prin- 
ciple which unites and holds civilized society together. 
It is the indestructible bond which unites and holds 
man to man as civilized and Christianized human 
beings. Without its cohesive power, civilized so- 
ciety would never exist. It is the adamantine chain 
which unites and holds the whole great family of 
mankind together and good faith, honesty, honor, in- 
tegrity, duty and humanity are the bright shining 
links of that chain which unite and hold and bind 
the great family of man into the common Brother- 
hood. 

In short, it is the grand center of the moral system, 
around which all the minor satellites of that system 
revolve ; as the sun is the center of our planetary sys- 
tem around which the planets revolve in that mys- 
terious harmony, formed and produced alone by the 
wisdom and the power of unapproachable divinity. 
It is the great original fountain of the affections, 
from which all the purely emotional feelings of the 
human heart flow in streams of love for our fellow 
beings and sympathy for those to whom we are bound 
by the ties of domestic relationship ; a fountain whose 
streams always glow and glitter and sparkle, like 
dewdrops on the green sward or diamonds in the 
depths of the clear blue sea. As they glitter and 
glisten, as they flow down the stream of human life, 
they seem to give to us as they pass a warning voice 
— always be truthful to yourself and all human be- 
ings. 

I have said that the practice of vice leads to misery. 



342 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

And what is vice? Vice was by the Romans (among 
other things) defined as a crime; but modern ethical 
writers do not give it so harsh a name. They term 
it a spot, a blemish, a defect, a fault of moral char- 
acter, or a violation of the moral law as related to 
the individual who disgraces himself or herself by 
suffering its presence in his or her own person or 
character. Thus we see that vice is the antipode of 
virtue and the two qualities or properties are as far 
asunder from each other as the two antipodes or 
Poles of the earth. Vice in the descending scale of 
human depravity is but one step higher than crime, 
and crime is but one step lower in the descending 
scale than vice. Thus there is but one single step 
from the one condition to the other. As disease is 
a physical defect of the body, so vice is a moral defect 
of the mind as well as character. Vice is the leprosy 
of the moral character that is sure to taint all that 
is contaminated by its very touch. It taints the very 
atmosphere in which it is breathed, and renders it as 
impure to moral health as the pestilence, or the air 
of the charnel house to physical health. It discolors 
and stains the vestments of purity in which virtue 
should ever be arrayed, and a single spot of vice upon 
an otherwise unsullied vestment will mar and destroy 
its beauty and render it instead of an object of splen- 
dor and attraction, an object of contempt and often 
of disgust. Vice, like a drop of ink dropped in a 
crystal vase of pure clear water, changes the color 
of the whole contents of the vase ; so the whole casket 
of virtue locked in the human heart as its richest 
treasure is despoiled by one single particle of vice; 
for, like the most penetrating perfume, it will scent 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 343 

the whole contents of the casket and give to all its 
contents the odor of that hateful particle. 

" Vice is a monster of so hideous mein, 
As to be hated needs but to be seen." 

Vice is the death-dealing charm that gleams from the 
eye of the basilisk that first charms and then devours. 
It is the venomous poison concealed in the sting of the 
asp and the thunderbolt from the bottomless pit, that 
rises and destroys that character upon which its bale- 
ful influence has fallen. 

It is the moral pestilence that surrounds all great 
cities and often spreads its terrible influence to every 
village, every hamlet and every nook and corner of 
our whole broad land, the moral sirocco that has 
swept over and polluted the whole great family of 
man. 

THE CONTRAST 

From the words virtue and vice necessarily are de- 
rived the adjectives virtuous and vicious, and these 
latter terms apply to persons or characters. Hence 
a virtuous man or a virtuous woman is a person pos- 
sessing those qualities or properties, as marked at- 
tributes of character. Character relates to position 
in society or the estimate the public places upon each 
individual member of society. Every member of a 
community occupies a twofold position : that which 
relates to him or herself as a free and responsible, in- 
telligent human being, by the moral law bound to per- 
form all the requirements of the moral law or virtue 
towards him or herself, and to obey all the require- 
ments of duty in that direction ; and also to perform 



344 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

that duty which he or she owes to society as a member 
of the social compact. 

Every individual exercises a perceptible and well- 
defined influence upon the circle in which he or she 
moves. As a candle or a lamp shines upon and gives 
light to every object in the room in which it is placed, 
so all individuals influence, to at least some extent, 
all persons that surround them. If the individual 
be virtuous, the influence will be good ; if vicious, the 
influence will be evil. Example and position com- 
municate to persons and influence them the same as 
a color or an odor is communicated to an object with 
which it comes in contact or as a pestilential disease 
is communicated by the touch. If, then, we wish to 
be pure, keep within a virtuous influence and if we 
keep within a vicious influence, we are in danger of 
becoming contaminated. 

One of the great forces in nature is that of the law 
of attraction and another that of repulsion. Vir- 
tuous persons attract towards and around them the 
virtuous and the good, and shed around them the 
benign influence of an enlightened cultivation, a gen- 
erous sympathizing heart and ever beaming sunshine 
of moral excellence, as exhibited through the affec- 
tions, the emotional feelings of love for humanity, 
kindness for the suffering and afflicted and sympathy 
for the worthy and deserving who heroically battle 
in the struggle of life for the right, the just and the 
truthful. The expression beaming from the counten- 
ance of the virtuous is the reflection of the feelings 
of a mind consciously calm, self-collected, self-satis- 
fied and resting in that repose which alone can result 
from the approval of a just and rightly educated con- 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 345 

science. In a word, the expression of all of terres- 
trial happiness of which mortals in this transitory 
state of existence are capable. 

A virtuous man or woman ranks in society as a 
diamond of the first water among diamonds, or as 
a star of the first magnitude among the bright shin- 
ing stars in the celestial empire. 

On the other hand, one whose character and coun- 
tenance bears the unmistakable impress of vice, 
stands forth in society an object of repulsion, that 
repels instead of attracts. Its countenance exhibits 
the evidence of the workings of the base, malignant 
and unholy passions of a morally depraved heart. 
It knows full well its true position and feels it keenly. 
It knows that virtue is universally admired and that 
vice is universally detested, and knowing that virtue 
is always attractive, it affects the counterfeit present- 
ment and assumes its dress. It " steals the livery of 
an angel, to serve the devil in," but it can never suc- 
cessfully long deceive, for it is totally wanting in 
that calm serenity which a virtuous mind uniformly 
exhibits. It is always stamped with the effigy of the 
demon vice which it serves. Like the Bohon Upas 
tree, it is an object both to fear and to dread. It is 
that malignant star of the poets which " shakes from 
its fiery hair, war, pestilence and death." 

THE CONCLUSION 

I have passed over what I should call the abstract 
or synopsis of argument in relation to the question 
under consideration on the first four pages of this 
paper, without further remark, because I thought the 
bearing of the several points was too obvious to re- 



346 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

quire other comment or illustration beyond their sim- 
ple statement, I have for myself come to the con- 
clusion, as the conviction of my own mind, that a full 
affirmative answer to the question proposed cannot 
truthfully be given, but that a qualified answer may 
be safely affirmed. Educational moral training may 
do much good, although as a rule it will not always 
prove successful. Man is too much the victim of his 
own prejudices, has too much self-love and is too 
much under the controlling influence of self-interest, 
too easily governed by the absorbing desire to gratify 
his own passions, and has too little power always to 
guard against temptation, to enable his moral con- 
science always to take the helm of reason and guide 
and govern his actions by a stern and undeviating 
will, never to disobey the dictates of a rightly trained 
moral conscience. Alas! for human weakness, and 
alas! for human depravity, but such is poor human 
nature; in an unguarded moment he too often yields 
the helm of reason and is lost to virtue. Still, to the 
credit of our species, a very large proportion of the 
human family have the will and the moral power 
never to yield to the siren monster temptation, and 
always to submit themselves to the dictates of a just 
conscience. 

However, I entertain no doubt that very much good 
might result from moral suasion, if lecturers and 
those who address public audiences on educational 
subjects for the purpose of aiding to train the intel- 
lectual faculties and induce people to become intel- 
lectually educated would bestow a reasonable portion 
of their time and efforts in the direction of training 
or educating the moral conscience. Much more good 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 347 

could be done than by a discourse exclusively di- 
rected to educational intelligence. I think there is a 
marked neglect of the American people to give their 
attention to the important subject of educating the 
moral conscience, and I have faith to hope that the 
time will soon come in these, our days of progress 
and reform, when the moral conscience will receive 
its just share of public attention, though as to moral 
reform, I fear we have not much to credit ourselves 
with. To give people exclusively an intellectual edu- 
cation with all its manifold blandishments and re- 
finements, is to prepare them (if their consciences 
are not well established in the principles of virtue) 
to be the more successful villains. Superior intelli- 
gence wrongly directed is a powerful and a fearful 
weapon, and had much better be entirely withheld 
unless accompanied by the still small voice of a right 
and approving conscience. While the religious con- 
sciences of our people are sought to be well trained, 
the moral conscience is greatly neglected. 

I have said that there is but one step in the de- 
scending scale from vice to crime, so short and so 
easy a step that it would seem a natural and almost 
inevitable result. The circumstances by which the 
practice of vice are surrounded, its associates and the 
associations of ideas and influences by which it is 
affected, its artificial wants and natural tendencies, 
sooner or later are too apt to induce the victim to take 
that last, one fatal step and plunge that hapless vic- 
tim into the fearful vortex of crime, and swallow up 
and destroy in the great maelstrom of human passions 
all of the virtuous men and women who render 
human life grand and glorious. Then it is that the 



348 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

gnawing viper, remorse, acting upon a wounded 
conscience, begins its horrid work. Then it is that 
the calm repose of a quiet mind and an ap- 
proving conscience is gone, is banished forever. 
Then begins the ceaseless goadings of a guilty con- 
science that, like the worm " that dieth not," is the 
ceaseless vulture that preys upon itself and is never, 
never appeased, while the victim sinks to the lowest 
depths of human degradation and mingles only with 
his associates in crime like serpents struggling and 
writhing in their den of torment, covering each other 
over and over again with the slime of their own filth. 
And this is vice. 

Let us turn the mind from the contemplation of 
this heart-sickening picture and look at the idea of 
the practice of virtue for its own sake. This idea 
was first enunciated by the lips of Socrates and soon 
after reiterated by Plato and soon taught throughout 
continental Europe. It was but an idea, obtained ut- 
terance only through the breath of man, but that idea, 
though thus frail and intangible, has exercised a 
power, a force which has thus far proved indestruct- 
ible, while those wonderful structures of art raised 
by the physical power of man, those granite and 
marble structures, chiseled and sculptured with the 
nicest exactitude of human art and contemporaries 
of those old sages and philosophers, the Acropolis 
and the Parthenon, have long since crumbled into a 
mass of shapeless ruins. 

REFLECTION 

If the soul is immortal, it never ceases to exist from 
the first breath of the body, and thus life is perpetual 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 349 

and will never cease to be so far as the soul is con- 
cerned; whatever our bodies may do, the soul will 
never die. Hence, although our bodies will grow old 
and die, our spirits will not. The body at the age 
of threescore years and ten is yet but in the youth, 
nay, but in the infancy of existence. If, therefore, 
the practice of virtue leads to happiness, happiness, 
like the soul, will be eternal. The immortal soul may 
be the inheritor of immortal virtue and immortal 
happiness. 

Note " A." There is no difficulty in giving an 
intelligible definition of " Conscience." It may be 
defined as the moral perceptive power of the mind 
that enables us to determine right from wrong. To 
this proposition all may assent; but, unfortunately, 
all people cannot agree in fixing a universal standard 
as to what is right and what is wrong. In religion, 
in politics and in morals, people think ( and that hon- 
estly) differently. The one party or set of people 
condemn what another party or class of people ap- 
prove, and hence we can have no universal standard 
of right and wrong. That standard is always fixed 
by the conscience, having been pre-fixed or formed 
or educated in some one of the ways I have before 
stated; so that, after all, the conscience is as much 
formed by education, practically, as it is an intuitive 
principle; for if education or habit or example had 
not fixed the standard, there would be no conscience 
at all. We should then be unconscious whether we 
had done right or wrong (but for the intuitive prin- 
ciple). Thus, in our imperfect condition of human 
reason, each individual seems bound by the Law of 



350 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

Nature imprinted on the human heart by the will 
of God, to govern his conduct by his educated con- 
science, and he alone and his Teacher are responsible 
as free moral agents to see and to know that it is 
rightly educated. And hence arises the imperative 
necessity of the exercise of that Christian virtue, 
Charity, in making due allowance towards others 
who think and believe differently with themselves and 
whose opinions are just as honestly formed as their 
own. There is one thing that I greatly fear mankind 
will never learn and that is, in the language of Daniel 
Webster, " to conquer their prejudices." So far as 
morals are concerned, the only safe standard is " Do 
unto others as you would that they should do unto 
you." All people appreciate the force of this great 
idea, because it addresses itself to our feelings of 
self-love. We desire to be justly dealt by ourselves, 
and hence we see the fitness and propriety of dealing 
justly by others, but when we come to exercise that 
other great principle of charity towards the opinions 
of others, that is not self-love, but self-abnegation, 
self-denial and, consequently, a much more difficult 
rule to understand and practice. The more I have 
reflected on this subject, the better I am convinced 
that although conscience is animated, or the intui- 
tive principle of the mind made our inward moral 
monitor, by the Allwise Creator, yet it is also largely 
an educated quality of the mind, or capable of being 
so educated. The Creator has placed the perceptive 
power in the mind, but the individual molds it much 
at his own will, or it is so molded by the will of others. 
The method by which the conscience may be and 
is formed by education is readily shown by a familiar 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 351 

illustration. We all know that glass in its pure state 
is a clear white, transparent substance, procured 
from silica or pure sand, and largely composed of 
silicic acid. That it is so clear and transparent that 
objects are seen through it by the eye with nearly or 
quite the same degree of perfection that they would 
be seen if no object or substance was interposed be- 
tween the eye and the object viewed by it, giving to 
the object viewed its full natural form and appear- 
ance, perfect as nature made it; but that natural and 
truthful appearance may be changed by an agent and 
that agent is color. The chemist has discovered sub- 
stances of coloring matter which can be mixed or 
fused with the melted glass and thus the chemist or 
manufacturer who now is the agent, may give to 
the otherwise pure white glass any color he pleases, 
say, red, green, blue or yellow. Then, if we look 
at an object through this colored glass, the object's 
appearance will be changed, and the object will as- 
sume the color of the glass through which it is seen, 
and that new appearance or color will seem to be its 
true color. So the conscience in its original or un- 
fixed state is the pure white glass capable of taking 
any color of opinion that the agent chooses to give 
it. Hence, in morals, in politics and in religion, the 
conscience may readily be induced to receive and 
adopt as its own opinion that appearance or opinion 
conveyed to it by the book the individual reads, by 
the examples of the individual's associates followed, 
by habits of its own following, the examples set by 
others, by the teachings of the parents, or the per- 
ception or by the thoughts, observations and expe- 
riences of things and ideas of life compared and 



352 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

judged of by the individual conscience. So we can 
readily perceive that the conscience may be and 
doubtless often is molded and formed not by the in- 
dividual possessor of that conscience alone, but by the 
force or will of the agent who or which conveys to the 
mind its moral, political or religious instruction. 

Note 2. The Moral Force of the Human Will. — 
Physical nature is controlled by forces, the law of na- 
ture being that of two forces in similar conditions 
and circumstances, the stronger force uniformly pre- 
vails. So with the moral force of the human will. 
The whole human body, as a rule, is governed and 
controlled by this will. We do not move a limb, 
bring an organ into action or move a muscle without 
the previous consent and free action of the moral 
will. That will is the supreme arbiter of every 
action of the body, and hence is the mainspring or 
predetermined motive power of every act of our lives. 
This will always is controlled by the action or de- 
cision of the mind. Thus the mind is virtually the 
man ; that is, the human being in action. All our ac- 
tions result, whether virtuous or vicious, from the 
direction which the will causes us to take. Conse- 
quently the act is either of virtue or vice, as the sover- 
eign will may direct, and hence we readily perceive 
the paramount importance of compelling the will, 
through the power of the mind, to take the unfailing 
direction of virtue; to take that direction, it is im- 
peratively necessary so to cultivate the mind and the 
faculty of the will as to love to choose and adopt 
virtue as the only fixed standard of moral action. As 
a faculty capable of improvement, it is more neces- 
sary and of more importance to mankind to culti- 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 353 

vate and train the moral force of the human will for 
the maintenance of virtue, than the cultivation of 
any or all the physical forces of the body, separately 
or combined, because the result of the practice of 
virtue follows us to and through our course of fu- 
ture existence in the eternal world ; while the results 
of our physical actions are but temporary in their 
effects and perish soon after their creation. The 
force of the human will is incalculable. A man's will 
decides that he will go a journey, will cross the ocean, 
will construct a machine, build a mansion, gain 
wealth, get a trade or profession or an education. 
Then it follows that all the forces of the human being 
both moral and physical are concentrated and brought 
to bear on the accomplishment of this one single pur- 
pose and though it may cost the toil, the unremitting 
labor of years and years, though to accomplish his 
fixed object " a thousand movements scarce one pur- 
pose gain," still he goes on unyieldingly and unflinch- 
ingly until the work, the object of his will, is ac- 
complished. This fixed purpose of the mind, this ob- 
ject in view, is the last thing the man thinks of on re- 
tiring to his bed at night and the first thing he thinks 
of on rising in the morning, day after day, and year 
after year until finally he can say, " It is finished." 
This power of the human will would seem to be a fixed 
principle of the mind to accomplish a given purpose 
or object to be attained. This purpose results from 
reflection, deliberation and design, uniting the de- 
sire to accomplish with the object to be accomplished, 
being the deliberate conviction of the judgment, in- 
fluenced and governed by the reasoning powers of 
the mind. 



354 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

And I hold that the man or woman who could form 
an idea or suggest a rule by which the individuals 
of the human family could and would control and 
direct their moral will so as to compel it to observe 
and practice the principle of virtue fully and com- 
pletely, would have done more for the benefit of the 
human race and be entitled to a higher niche in the 
temple of fame than all the physical forces brought 
to bear by the world-renowned heroes of either an- 
cient or modern times, even Alexander the Great or 
Caesar, Napoleon or our American hero, General 
Grant, with all the hosts of their conquering armies. 
Virtue is the reflection of the image of the Almighty 
on the human hearts. Let us stamp that reflection 
there forever ! 

There seems to be in the mind or disposition of 
the human heart two warring elements, a spirit of 
good and a spirit of evil. The one prompts us to act 
right, the other to act wrong ; the one to do good, the 
other to do evil. The conscience must or should de- 
cide between them and the will brought to bear on the 
contest, deciding by pre-formed determination that 
the spirit of good shall always prevail. 

FINAL CONCLUSION 

That my sentiments on this subject may not be mis- 
understood, I will say I am convinced from the pe- 
rusal of history and the writings of travelers that 
notwithstanding all that was done by the teachings of 
Confucius, Socrates and Plato and other ancient 
moral philosophers to elevate the condition of man 
to a high moral standard, that the state of public and 
private morals in the Old World never assumed a 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 355 

high rank, a rank at all equal to that produced by the 
more elevating doctrines taught by the Christian faith 
in the Revelations of the Scriptures. 

The teachings of the ancients were excellent, wise 
and well founded in the pure philosophy of human 
reason, but the masses of their countrymen did not 
follow and practice those rules enunciated by those 
teachings. For ages, or century after century, the 
mass of the Chinese people have been servile, cor- 
rupt and corruptible by bribery and both public and 
private morals were at an exceedingly low grade; 
and ancient Greece since the declension of its power 
has also been servile, corrupt and morally degraded; 
so that it remained for the Christian faith and that 
alone to make man truly great in morals and place 
the human family in their true condition in relation 
to themselves, to society and their God. 

Although I have given several instances of what 
men have practiced, believing they were right in so 
doing, in my abstract of an argument on the moral 
conscience, as examples to prove the capacity of men 
to be educated for evil, or to do evil, thinking they 
were right; yet this does in no way militate against 
the doctrines of Divine Revelation; because though 
some men may be perverted into a depraved con- 
science, yet that does not prove all men depraved in 
conscience. The Christian faith is just as true and 
excellent as though its rules and precepts had never 
been violated by perverse and evil practices of a 
wrongly educated conscience. The Christian system 
is right notwithstanding a portion of mankind do 
not interpret and practice it as its author intended 
it to be interpreted and practiced. 



356 OELO JAY HAMLIN 

With us in the nineteenth century of the Christian 
era every system of morals to be useful to and be 
propagated among the people must be based upon 
the sublime truths and grand religious precepts 
taught by the Holy Scriptures ; for without such base 
on which to rest the moral fabric, we would effect no 
good, and would be no better as a nation or a people 
than the pagan idolaters of the effete and worn-out 
nations of antiquity. 

They required the leaven of the new life taught by 
the precepts of our Saviour and we require to rest 
our moral fabric on our Saviour's teachings as the 
chief cornerstone of our moral structure. 

There never was and never can be so pure and per- 
fect a system of morals as that taught by the new 
dispensation of the divine Revelations. 



IS THE HUMAN SOUL IMMORTAL? 

IT is admitted that this proposition cannot be dem- 
onstrated in the affirmative, but it is alleged 
that it may be presumed from so many inferences 
that nearly all mankind believe it. 

I think the only true mode of determining this 
question is by faith in believing the Revelation of 
the Scriptures and by that I think it clearly, affirm- 
atively proven. 

I will, however, note down a bare abstract of the 
inferences, or some of them that occur to me, not 
argumentatively but put in the brief form of an 
abstract. 

1. The strongest inferences or instances are those 
put by Christ and St. Paul, that of the corn, " How 
can the corn (grain) grow again unless it first die? " 

(Objections.) 

2. The idea of retributive justice would seem to 
require a future state (or immortality of the soul) ; 
for if the soul is not immortal there can be no future 
punishment or future new earths for mortals beyond 
earth. Otherwise, if we escape punishment here, we 
cannot ever be punished for our sins. 

(Objections.) 

3. All men desire to live and to be immortal and 
dread death. " Else why this longing after immor- 
tality?" 

(Objections.) 

357 



358 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

4. As man was created in God's image and as 
God is immortal, as He has created angels who are 
immortal and man but a little lower than the angels ; 
as man possesses the Godlike attribute of intelligence, 
it would seem reasonable to infer that he has created 
man or at least his spirit to be as far like the angels 
as to be immortal also; and so far an emanation of 
his own being. 

( Objections. ) 

5. Man's life on earth has too short a limit to 
perfect his intellectual nature, unless his period of 
existence is extended to another state of being here- 
after, and hence it may be inferred that God will so 
extend it to carry out the perfection of his own works. 

(Objections.) 

6. It may be inferred as highly probable that if 
man was more essentially spiritual in his nature and 
had the subtlety of a spiritual being such as belongs 
to angels, he might even here on earth perceive in- 
ferential evidences of the immortality of his own soul 
that, from the want of such subtlety or refinement of 
perceptions, he cannot, while his spirit is clogged 
with a body, now so perceive. 

(Objections.) 

7. Reproduction of the same spirit as an indi- 
vidual spirit in another state of being is just as pos- 
sible with God, as the reproduction of another animal 
or plant from a germ of the old one ; because, with him, 
" all things are possible." 

(Objections.) 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 359 

8. While the elements of matter are indestructible, 
it is believed that spiritual, though immaterial, is 
also indestructible; and as God breathed into the 
nostrils of man the breath of life and man became a 
living soul; He gave him spirit (which we think soul, 
intelligence) also; in other words, He gave to man a 
spirit so far resembling his own that it possesses the 
highest known order of intelligence on earth, and as 
God's spirit is immortal, it is reasonable to infer that 
He gave man an immortal spirit also, because He has 
given him a spirit and spirit we think is soul and 
immortal, (i.e.) a part of his own spirit or its resem- 
blance. 

(Objections.) 

9. Our own spiritual faculty of sensation and per- 
ception is not fine enough to prove by sensation or dem- 
onstration that we have a spirit, or that other spirits 
exist ; yet, we feel convinced and really know we have 
a spirit, and believe other spirits exist, and we are 
constrained to believe that spirit is eternal, although 
we cannot prove and may be unable to give a satis- 
factory reason for it. 

(Objections.) 

10. The spirit (mind) still exists in perfection, 
though the body may sleep and be totally unconscious 
of the mind's existence. Therefore, the spirit may 
exist in a future state, though the body may be un- 
conscious of it. That is, the spirit may go to heaven 
and be there while the body is in the grave. 

(Objections.) 

11. The (nearly) universal belief of all mankind 
in its immortality — it is not totally universal, but 



360 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

nearly ; and as all general rules have exceptions, the 
few who disbelieve are but the exception to the general 
rule. Christ was incarnate God and man. His death 
and resurrection prove that the spirit lives after death. 
That the soul is immortal. 

(Objections.) 

12. The miracles wrought by Christ and his teach- 
ings prove he was not man but God, incarnate in man. 
If the soul of mankind was not immortal, then Christ 
would not have suffered death on the cross to save man 
from the punishment for sin, beyond the grave, be- 
cause if man is not immortal, Christ's death for his 
redemption was useless. If the soul lives not beyond 
the grave, it cannot be punished beyond the grave. 

(Objections.) 

13. The learned, the most deep thinking and clear 
thinking, the most powerful intellects of almost every 
age of the world have adopted the idea of a future 
state of existence in some one form or another. If 
not the whole number of such men, certainly a very 
large majority of them have so believed. And not 
only the learned, but the wild Indian believes in the 
Great Spirit and Spirit land; the unlettered pagan 
often is found to believe in some sort of future state 
after death and if the most learned as well as the 
ignorant affirm the proposition, it is strong evidence 
of its truth. 

(Objections.) 

Note. I have seen the fact that many insects pass 
through the chrysalis state mentioned to prove the 
probable future state of man ; but I think this infer- 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 361 

ence falls very far short of the illustration of the grain 
of corn mentioned by our Saviour, because the young 
insect does not die before its change from work to 
insect. It continues to have full animal life. It only 
changes its form from worm to insect. Whereas, the 
grain of corn really dies and its identity, all but the 
germ which goes to begin the new formation, is en- 
tirely lost, being taken up by the new plant. This 
I hold to be but a weak inference while the Saviour's 
is the strongest inference put. 



CONCLUSION 

To all the foregoing thirteen inferences, there may 
readily be perceived objections. I had thought of 
writing out such as occurred to me, but I do not see 
that it would serve any good purpose and will not 
write them at present. However, after reflection, I 
think that after making fair allowance for all the ob- 
jections to each of the inferences, there still will 
remain for each of them a residuum of inference that 
goes materially to strengthen the affirmative of the 
original proposition and that Christ's incarnation and 
suffering proves the affirmative fully. 

Note. It is not necessary to prove the soul's im- 
mortality by inferences, for history proves the fact 
that Christ died and rose from the dead. He was 
incarnate, God and man. His coming again to life 
after death and the grave proves that the soul (spirit) 
may live again after death. He died as a man dieth 
and lived again after the resurrection. His soul as a 



362 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

man was immortal as well as being immortal as God. 
Inferences only prove man's future life possible, the 
entire fact proves it true. 

Note. If the body is raised from the dead, it would 
seem to me to strengthen or be not inconsistent with 
the materialistic doctrine of functional, organic action 
of the brain ; because if the soul is not separate from 
the body, it cannot be immortal unless the body is also 
immortal and both necessarily are required to be re- 
united after death. If the soul is a material function, 
to make it immortal it must be raised from the dead 
and reunited to the body, the resurrection. 

As to reproduction, all animals and plants were 
first produced as originals and not by reproduction. 
It is doubtless as possible for God to reproduce man 
by reuniting the same soul to the same body as to pro- 
duce the man Adam, the original of the type. There 
is nothing in nature that fairly contradicts the idea 
of the soul's immortality. 

Note. I wrote the foregoing before I had read any 
book on the subject. 

INFERENCES FROM REV. D. W. CLARK'S "MAN ALL 
IMMORTAL " 

Because we cannot comprehend the mode of a thou- 
sand things that are mysteries to us, it does not argue 
that the fact does not exist, as the connection of the 
soul with the body. 

Man the representative of God on earth. 

Man the connecting link between spirit and matter, 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 363 

his body dust, his spirit comes from God (and is to 
return to him). 

Celebrated maxim of Harvey, Omne animal ex ovum. 

The germ of a plant, a grain of wheat in an Egyptian 
mummy grew after three thousand years — rats grew 
in a Roman camp fifteen hundred years old. 

The doctrine of the materialists that the essence of 
matter is fine. 

The Darwinian theory " the action of matter upon 
matter " ( producing fire ) . 

The true idea of organization is life. Our spiritual 
life relates to God. 

The power of the soul largely controls the body. 

The body may be nearly destroyed by disease and 
yet the mind be sound. 

Some transcendentalists say nothing is real, all is 
imaginary. 

The organs of the senses are mere instruments of 
the soul. 

Instinct is not mind, soul, that never improves, but 
mind ever improves. Birds build their nests now as 
they did six thousand years ago. 

Birds sing the same notes and no others than they 
did at the first six thousand years ago. 

As matter is indestructible, so is mind presumed 
to be indestructible. 

If the soul of man is material, it thereupon is inde- 
structible and immortal. 

Newton remarked, that he had been like a boy hunt- 
ing pebbles in the great ocean of truth which is still 
undiscovered. 

With a thought or a care. 



364 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

The conscience either accusing or excusing us is evi- 
dence of a future state in which we are answerable 
for doing right or wrong. 

Remorse if we do wrong, guilty conscience, future 
retribution. 

Reason gives us hope of a future state. Revelation 
gives us faith. 

INTERMEDIATE STATE 

Resurrection. See John xi, 24. John v, 28-29. 
Luke xix, 14. Acts xxiv, 15. II Tim. iv, 6-8. I Peter 
i, 3-7. Romans ii, 6-16. II Peter iii, 4-12. I Corin- 
thians xv, 52. John v, 28-35. Psalms xlix, 15. Mat- 
thew xxvii, 52-53. 

Christ said to the penitent thief, " To-day shalt thou 
be with me in Paradise." 

The transfiguration when Moses and Elias were seen 
though dead for 1500 years. Matt, xvii, 4. 

The fact of the resurrection was generally believed 
by the Jews. 

The objection of the change of matter of the body 
forbids resurrection is answered by the realm that a 
new body will be made identically like the old so as 
to be sure identity. Sickness may waste a man but 
when he recovers he is conscious of identity. 

Future recognition, Rev. v, 9. Matt, xii, 36, indi- 
vidually sentenced. 

The ancient Tartarus, surrounded by five Rivers 
(called Styx). 1st. Dread or Styx, piercing cold. 
2d. Aceron (grief). 3d. Coxytus (consolation). 4th. 
Philegethon (planning) waters of flame. 5th. Lethe 
( oblivion ) , flowing slowly through the beautiful val- 
ley of Elysium, the souls forgot all their sorrows. 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 365 

MEMORY 

Cyrus knew all the soldiers of his army. Mithri- 
dates of Greece, who ruled twenty kingdoms of differ- 
ent languages, delivered laws in each language. Wal- 
ter Scott and Sydney Smith had remarkable mem- 
ories. 

Memory often brings back things long forgotten. 

Insane men are restored to memory. The sailor 
lying fifteen months at Greenwich Hospital. 

CONSCIENCE 

There shall be no peace for the wicked. 

BUTLER'S ANALOGY. (WRITTEN ABOUT 1733) 
By Joseph Butler, LL.D., Bishop of Durham, Eng. 
The object of the book is to show the analogy between the re- 
ligion of nature as shown by the works of nature and God as the 
moral governor of the moral world of mankind, through the evi- 
dence of the laws or light of nature, and the revealed religion of 
the Old and New Testament revealed by God to man for his better 
and more certain guide. 

First. The Religion of Nature. Immortality of 
the Soul. — Shown by the oneness of our mental 
essence in our personal identity. Death is not known 
to be the destruction of our life power. By the pres- 
ervation of our mental integrity after the loss of our 
flesh. If the soul be no larger than one atom of mat- 
ter, it may not be capable of dissolution. All our 
members are instruments of the soul and governed by 
our will. Mental power does not cease, though all the 
limbs are severed. Our reasoning and reflectings are 
independent of the body. As we know the world has 
continued from day to day, we expect to-morrow, as 



366 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

we have continued to live in like manner, so we expect 
to continue beyond death so to live. We are not sure 
that death will be the destruction of life, as we do not 
know what does take place after death. If life is the 
living agent of the body, we know not that death will 
destroy that agent. As consciousness continues until 
death, it may continue beyond. Consciousness is indi- 
visible, hence it may exist out of the body or in another 
body. The body may be destroyed and yet the soul 
live whether our living substances be material or im- 
material. The destruction of the body may not de- 
stroy the living agent. Infants possess the germ of 
the moral power though they cannot use the faculties 
of perception, reason, etc., yet it may not die if they 
die, though it be not brought to perfect growth or ripe- 
ness. Although the power of sensation is destroyed 
by death, it may not also destroy the power of reflec- 
tion or mind. Sleep suspends but does not destroy the 
action of the mind. The mind still continues to exist. 
Death may put us in a higher state of life as our birth 
does. We may pass to another world and state of 
action as we pass by birth into a new state of life. 

Note. — The fact that the germ of mind in the infant 
seems to need time to grow and develop, that it does 
so grow with the child to maturity and then after 
decline towards final decay, would seem to prove mind 
the result of organization and not a separate principle. 
Still, it may be a separate principle or force placed in 
the brain by God and expanded by brain growth and 
the different mental powers of the individual resulting 
from the different organizations of the brain, the same 
as the same force may operate differently upon differ- 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 367 

ent kinds of machinery or different models of the same 
kind of machine. 

God, the Moral Governor of the World. — He gov- 
erns by rewarding virtue and punishing vice. What 
we suffer and enjoy largely comes from our own ac- 
tions. He governs by general rules ; hence there is in- 
dividual suffering which we cannot trace to our own 
follies. The whole end of His government may be be- 
yond the reach of our faculties. Reason forewarns us 
against evil, the doing of evil executes its own punish- 
ment by its consequences in this life. The laws of man 
do not execute their own punishment. God's do, and 
hence the analogy that God will reward or punish men 
hereafter, because some crimes escape punishment in 
this life. Hence delay of punishment is no immunity 
from it. Ancient poets, philosophers and writers all 
speak of future punishments. Moral government con- 
sists in rendering to men according to their actions 
whether they be good or evil. Men in this life may get 
over their sense of shame and become hardened. Such 
will be punished hereafter. Hence, the bad or vicious 
may prosper in this life but be punished hereafter. It 
may be presumed that God's method of government be- 
gun in this world will be carried on in future. God 
has given us a moral nature, for we naturally approve 
of virtue and disapprove of vice. This moral nature 
gives us a great power over each other's happiness. 
That virtue is not always rewarded is not because 
nature so intended it, but grows out of the general laws 
of government. Virtue is a bond of union and gives 
power to the virtuous. Reason always prevails over 
brute force. Mr. Butler supposes a kingdom of en- 
tirely virtuous persons for a succession of ages in 



368 OELO JAY HAMLIN 

which truth and justice prevail, without envy; this he 
thinks might be, and society would be perfected. Be- 
cause God rewards virtue, so it may be presumed that 
that government will be carried on to more perfection 
in the future. This life our probation to prepare for a 
better one. Therefore, our future life depends much 
on ourselves. All wickedness is voluntary and might 
be avoided. That we have the faculties for improve- 
ment shows that we should improve them. That we 
have a will and can and do use it to do good or evil is 
totally contradiction to the idea of the fatalists. 



THE REVELATIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES 

DIVINES rely mainly on the accomplishment of 
the prophecies and the facts of the miracles for 
the proof of the authenticity of the Scriptures. Some 
persons think the light of nature sufficient as a guide, 
but if we consider the condition of the heathen world 
as compared with the world guided by Revelation we 
shall see it was not. Revelation is a re-publication 
of the law or light of natural religion, and was neces- 
sary to inform mankind of their religious duty — a 
revelation of God's government to man, not discover- 
able by reason. Those who taught were convinced of 
its necessity or they would not have enforced it by 
miracles and laid down their lives for it. Life and 
immortality are clearly brought to light by it. It was 
intended as a guide to future ages and to establish a 
visible church and to hold up revelations to aid nature. 
A visible church is a system of religious education. 
Were the heathen world as enlightened by the natural 
religion as those since by revelations? As mankind 
were said by Scripture to be in a state of ruin from sin, 
a Redeemer was necessary to save them. The Chris- 
tian religion could not have been discovered by reason 
and experience. Revelation was, therefore, necessary. 
There are thousands of the mysteries of nature that 
reason cannot reveal, then how can man know the will 
of God toward man or toward himself, but by revela- 
tion? Therefore, that things lie beyond the reach of 

369 



370 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

our faculties is no proof against them. There is no 
proof that the whole course or laws of nature are like 
those which are known. There may be unknown laws 
of nature, different from the known and therefore 
miracles. Religion was not first reasoned out. Mir- 
acles must be compared to the extraordinary phenom- 
ena of nature produced by laws unknown to us. The 
miracles and the prophecies are to be taken on the 
footing of historical evidence of the Old and the New 
Testaments. Nothing positive is alleged against the 
said historical evidence. Christianity was received in 
the world on the proof of these miracles wrought at the 
time it was first introduced and believed on that evi- 
dence. The apparent completion of a prophecy is 
evidence that it was inspired prophecy. The Old Tes- 
tament is a chronological history of events and, there- 
fore, the prophecies and their fulfillment must be 
taken as a part of this history. The Jews remaining 
a distinct people, a standing miracle. 

VIRTUE 

For moral government people have moral sense, per- 
ception and reason and the capacity to reflect upon 
moral actions. We have the faculty of approving 
virtue in ourselves or others and of opposing vice. 
Justice, veracity and a regard to the good of others is 
the universal standard of virtue. 

BOOK ON THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL AND CON- 
DITION OF THE FINALLY IMPENITENT 

By Robert W. Landis, Iowa, 1859. 

Condition of the future state, as believed by all the 
evangelical churches, that the soul is immortal and at 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 371 

death the body goes to the dust, the soul neither dies 
nor sleeps but goes immediately to God — the souls 
of the wicked go immediately to hell and remain in 
darkness and torment to await the judgment of the 
last day. Those who are alive shall not die but be 
changed and the righteous shall have their souls re- 
united to their bodies, not the same body but one of 
different quality, thus united forever. 

Archbishop Whately was an English Episcopalian 
who advocated a doctrine assuming somewhat of the 
materialistic view of a future state. This book con- 
siders spiritualism the same as materialism or that the 
soul is the result of organization of the body and dies 
with the body. Material is assumed corruptible and 
by immaterial incorruptible. He admits that " reason 
cannot prove the soul immortal," because this question 
transcends the power of human intelligence. As to 
the future state of the finally impenitent he does not 
claim that man can here know what it will be, only 
that it will be separation from God, a place of misery 
and torment, whether the word fire is metaphysical 
or real we cannot decide. The materialists' doctrine 
is really the doctrine of annihilation, for if the spirit 
is part of the body, as the body perishes, so the spirit 
being part of the body must perish also. That the 
ancients believed in a future state is proven by VirgiPs 
account of iEneas visiting the regions of Tartarus or 
of Pluto and Rodamanthus as related in the iEniad, 
and Homer's account of Ulysses visting the Shades or 
Hades, related in the Odyssey. 

Before the invention of the microscope, magnifying 
90,000 diameters, nobody would have believed that ani- 
malcula existed of no more than one 24,000th part of 



372 ORLO JAY HAMLIN 

an inch in diameter, having stomachs, eyes, mouth, 
teeth, muscles, nerves, etc., of whom it would require 
one billion to make a mass as large as a grain of sand. 
Now this is proven true. Then is it not equally pos- 
sible for God to have made our souls immortal? How 
these things were formed is a mystery to us. It can- 
not be a greater mystery if the spirit is immortal by 
means which we cannot discover. 



V 
LITERARY WORKS REVIEWED 



PHILOSOPHY AND METAPHYSICS 

PROFESSOR JOHN FISK'S LECTURE 
(Abstract) 

ALL knowledge is by relativity, that is by a com- 
parison of the objective with the subjective. 

Locke held that there were no innate ideas, ideas 
previous to experience, that all our ideas are the result 
either of perception or reflection. 

Leibnitz held that the mind by its own action aids 
in forming an idea, and therefore part of the cognition 
was innate, due to the mind. 

Locke belonged to the Positive school of philoso- 
phers, and argued that all knowledge is the result of 
experience; while Philosophers of the present day 
(1869) hold to innate ideas and that to the mind be- 
longed a part of the power of cognition. Haven 
asserts that the mind possesses the power of intu- 
ition as a distinct quality of itself. 

My own Notions. Whether there are really innate 
ideas of moral principles in the mind, previous to ex- 
perience, observation and reflection, is an extremely 
difficult question to answer : I incline to think, as a 
rule, there are not, although often the mind becomes 
imbued with moral principles, which are rules de- 
duced from God's laws or the moral principles agreed 
upon by nearly universal consent ; the mind is so con- 
stituted that it, by its capacity of thought and reflec- 
tion combined, instantly perceives whether a proposed 

375 



376 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

act is either right or wrong by the mental process 
called metaphysicians' intuition, and if instinctive 
whether it is sinful or meritorious. 

There are a few crimes so glaringly flagrant to the 
mind, that the idea of their commission would strike 
the mind as innate ideas and clearly wrong ; these are 
murder, theft, and arson, and perhaps perjury. 

But I much question whether the violation of the 
rules of the cardinal moral virtue, as innate ideas 
come to be properly classed in the foregoing: as I 
think they are more the result of intellectual, moral 
and religious education. 

FOUR SORTS OF ARGUMENTS. (LOCKE, P. 446) 

1. Ad vere cum diam. To allege the names for au- 
thority, of eminent or distinguished men (that their 
opinions were not to be questioned). 

2. Ad ignorantiam. To require the adversary to 
admit what they state or say, or show a better reason. 

3. Argumentum ad hominem. To appeal to an- 
other, self interest, private opinion, honor or prejudice 
or religious opinion. 

4. Argumentum ad judicium. The use of proofs 
drawn from any of the foundations of knowledge or 
probability. This alone of all others brings true in- 
struction with it. 

HAVEN'S MENTAL PHILOSOPHY 

Philosophy denotes the investigation and explana- 
tion of the causes of things. 

Mental philosophy is designed to ascertain the laws 
and facts of mental operations. 

Two departments of knowledge, the science of mat- 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 377 

ter and the science of mind, the one called physics and 
the other metaphysics ; metaphysics now called " On- 
tology " or " Psychology." Mental philosophy, a 
natural science. 

GENERAL ANALYSIS 

A mental faculty is " the mind's power of acting or 
doing something : the mind is not complex, but single 
and one." 

The three forms of mental activity are " thought, 
feeling, volition." 

ANALYSIS OF INTELLECTUAL POWERS 

The sense of faculty or presentative faculty, 
presents to the mind object new and sensible as they 
present to the mind, external objects, usual things, as 
the individual now or then sees them. 

The representative power conceives of them in their 
absence — mental reproduction in memory. 

Representation of the ideal is distinguished from 
the actual — the ideal is the power of the imagination. 

The reflective power involves generalization and 
comparison and hence reasoning, or the analysing of a 
complex idea, or comparing a simple one with another 
either simple or complex one. 

The intuitive power, or intuition, is rather the result 
of reasoning, than the perceptive power or cognition 
is process, by which the mind forms ideas and concep- 
tions not furnished by the senses; this is the origina- 
tive or intuitive power. 

POWERS OF THE INTELLECT 

1. Presentation or perception. 



378 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

2. Representative, memory, imagination or actual 
and ideal. 

3. Reflective, synthetic, analytic, generalization, 
reasoning. 

4. Intuitive, original conception. 

Modern philosophers distinguish between intelli- 
gence and the emotional power, and make the division 
as intelligence, sensibility and desire. 

HAVEN'S MENTAL PHILOSOPHY (CONT.) 

Consciousness is the knowledge of sensations and 
mental operations, or of what passes in our own minds. 

We may be unconscious of what is going on in the 
mind, and yet the mechanical act goes on, as the case 
of the reporter, who kept on writing correctly but me- 
chanically, while he forgot that he had heard what was 
said ; and the musician who plays mechanically while 
he is thinking of something else; so in walking, we 
move our limbs without thinking ; we therefore infer 
that there may be mental activity of which at the time 
we are unconscious. 

ATTENTION 

Attention is concentration of the powers of thought, 
and is an effort of the will, but certain acts may me- 
chanically perform without attention, as music and 
walking. 

Conception enters more or less into the service of all 
our mental faculties ; we conceive of things absent as 
well as present, real as well as ideal, possible or im- 
possible. The inconceivable is impossible to us. 

As the powers of different minds are differently con- 
stituted, so the conception of the same thing by dif- 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 379 

ferent persons is not always alike, but different. 
O. J. H. 

THE PRESENTATIVE POWER 

This faculty or perception by the senses is the foun- 
dation of all our knowledge, the beginning of our men- 
tal acquisitions. 

It involves a twofold element : The subjective and 
the objective. 

Perceptive process, — simple sensation, the con- 
sciousness of a feeling, the subjective process. 

It represents a specific feeling or sensation to some- 
thing external as its producing cause. 

Sensation primarily effects the nervous system, and 
through that the mind. It is the indispensable con- 
dition of perception. 

ANALYSIS OF THE QUALITIES OF BODIES 

As extension, divisibility, size, figure, situation and 
some others. 

Primarily they are known as themselves, in them- 
selves a priori. 

Secondarily, accidental or by experience. 

The number of the senses are usually reckoned as 
five. 

The object of the senses is to make known to us data, 
or put us in possession of knowledge of external ob- 
jects, by which we are surrounded. 

With all our senses we cannot know all the quality 
of objects. The voice can be so modulated as to ex- 
press the passions or emotions of the mind, as anger, 
fear, love, etc. 

The senses are the receiving agents to the mind ; this 



380 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

is the chief object of the senses, they are the tele- 
graphic wires to the mind. 

By experiences we learn from the sound the causes 
that produce it, as of a wagon passing in the street. 

The number of sounds which the ear can distinguish 
is almost without limit. The ear can recognize, it is 
said, 500 distinct tones, and each tone admits 500 de- 
grees of loudness. The power of sound over the emo- 
tional mind is very great ; it is not so much the thing 
said as the manner of saying it. 

A solid form or figure, or its image, is conveyed to 
the mind by two flat surfaces, one seen by each eye, 
as seen by the use of two flat pictures seen through a 
stereoscope. 

How do we know that our senses are reliable and do 
not deceive us? I answer, by the experience of our 
own senses, it so seems to us. O. J. H. 

What is sweet to one is sour to another, or bitter. 

. . . may deceive us, as a straight stick may look 
crooked under the water, a round tower in the distance 
may become a square tower near by ; all this is owing 
to a change in the circumstances. Also in certain 
states of the physical organism, our senses may deceive 
us. 

DIVISION OF THE QUALITIES OF BODIES 

The Greek philosophers, the Epicurean School, 
Plato and Aristotle held that the qualities, bitter, 
sweet, sour, hot, cold, etc., are rather affections of our 
own senses, than proper qualities of matter, — these 
they term secondary senses, — while the qualities of 
extension, figure, size, number, etc., are primary qual- 
ities. 



OELO JAY HAMLIN 381 

Galileo gives the true distinction, as the primary are 
those qualities necessary to our conception of body, — 
while the secondary, color, taste, etc., are the affective 
qualities, because they have the power to affect our 
senses. 

Sir William Hamilton says: The primary are 
known a priori — the secondary known only by experi- 
ence as a posteriori. 

The attributes of space are mobility changes of po- 
sition. Our notions of matter are extension, divisibil- 
ity, situation. 

The secondary qualities are not attributes of body 
at all, but only affections of our nervous systems. 

Of the qualities thus derived, the primary are known 
immediately in themselves, the secondary only medi- 
ately in their effect on us. O. J. H. 

MENTAL PHILOSOPHY 

Different Theories of Perception — Idealists and Realists. 

These two leading theories have widely divided the 
thinking world. The realist maintains that by per- 
ception we have direct cognizance with a real external 
world. This is the view taken by the author, and now 
generally held by psychologists in this country (U. S.) 
and to some extent in Europe, but for a long time the 
opinion was held the reverse. Until the time of Reid, 
in Scotland, and Kant in Germany, the ideal theory 
was nearly universal. The idealists hold then in per- 
ception the mind is conscious only of its own ideas, 
cognizant of itself and its own state only and incapable 
of knowing anything external to itself. 

The " absolute idealists hold that the notices we 
have of external things is purely subjective, having no 



382 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

external counterpart, no corresponding outward real- 
ity." 

Others hold that while we are cognizant of nothing 
beyond our own mind, yet there is an external reality 
corresponding to the idea in our own mind, and which 
that idea represents then are called by Sir William 
Hamilton, representative idealists. 

Among the absolute idealists was Hume of England, 
— among the representative idealists were Descartes, 
Leibnitz, Locke. 

The representative idea is that there must come to 
the mind from externally some little thing or image 
bearing resemblance to the thing without representing 
to the soul that external world. 

But the doctrine now held is that we do not merely 
conceive of an object as existing or believe that it 
exists, but we know that it exists. 

OF THE REPRESENTATIVE POWER 

It is the mind's power to conceive or represent to 
itself an object not at the time present to the senses, 
to conceive of it as it was, but he may add to it other 
qualities that were not real; this would be imagina- 
tion. The first power would be recognition, the result 
of memory, the power of imagination, the creation of 
the mind only. 

MEMORY 

We may conceive of objects not present or even seen, 
as by reading or hearing an account of them, without 
the power of memory all the past in our lives would be 
lost, we could not recall, reproduce nor imagine any- 
thing. 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 383 

The talent of description depends on our conceptions 
of the object in the most striking form. Perception 
is the effect which an object produces through the eye 
or by touch or sensation. Conception is what the indi- 
vidual really thinks of that object. Conceptions may 
be simple or complex. O. J. H. 

MEMORY — LAWS OF MENTAL REPRODUCTION 

Our conceptions arise in pursuance of some law or 
method. Everything is connected or is followed by 
something which has preceded it, something which has 
suggested it, that it may be a sensation, a percep- 
tion, a conception or an emotion. 

Suggestions follow certain rules or laws called 
the laws of association. 

This is the basis of mental reproduction, viz. : sug- 
gestion or association to which we are indebted for all 
mental reproduction; one thought or feeling is sug- 
gested by another thought or feeling which has gone 
before. 

Note to the above rule I make one exception, 
that thoughts do come to the mind unbidden, as also 
reproductions of memory, without volition of the 
thinker and without suggestion or appreciation. 
O. J. H. 

Memory is not a distinct faculty of the mind, it is 
rather a law or a method of the mind. 

Suggestions of the mind produce contrasts, as a 
giant suggests a dwarf or pigmy, pleasant suggests its 
opposites, disagreeable, disgustful, — it is a law of the 
mind to suggest either similars or diametrical con- 
trasts or opposites. 

The same law of opposites and contrasts is a sugges- 



384 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

tion produced by the association of ideas in the mind, 
it associates opposites. 

Suggestions are produced by resemblance, contrast, 
continuity in time or place, and cause and effect. 

A certain combination of musical sounds recalls to 
the mind of Scott his native land. 

A palace reminds one of the hovel of the peasant. 

Frequently aids, committing to memory. 

Cause and effect are suggestions, the one of the 
other. 

Thoughts which have previously coexisted, when 
again suggested, tend, says Aristotle, to reproduce 
each other. Aristotle was one of the most acute think- 
ers of his age. 

A view of a single object may suggest many ideas, as 
of the Sainte Chapelle of Paris, it may suggest the 
time you saw it, the magnificence of the building, the 
artist who planned it, the age, the Gothic style of 
architecture, etc. 

The art of printing has injured our memory, be- 
cause we depend on books for reference instead of 
memory. 

Artificial systems to aid memory are not, as a whole, 
thought useful. The natural mode of association and 
location of time, place and circumstances is the best 
way to aid memory, with repetition of the thought or 
incident. 

Recognition and reproduction constitute what is 
called memory. Cyrus knew, it is said, the name of 
every officer (and Pliny has it every soldier), who 
served in his army. 

Themistocles could call by name each one of the 
20,000 citizens of Athens. Hortensius could remem- 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 385 

ber at night all the things^sold at an auction, the pur- 
chaser's name and price. 

The loss of memory is sometimes restored after a 
lapse of time. It is believed that recognition and 
memory will, in a future state, be in a great measure 
restored to us, — so the idea of future retribution is 
thus rendered probable. 

ANCIENT THEORY OF MEMORY 

That the impression is made on the sensorium of the 
brain and becomes in some way indelible [like the im- 
pression made on the retina of the eye. O. J. H.] by 
an object, — Aristotle thought it like the impression 
made by a ring on melted wax. 

IMAGINATION 

It is the creative power of the mind, not the repro- 
duction of an object alone, but the mind's idea of it 
that makes the mind's ideal. It is not confined to the 
true original, but limited to facts; it concerns itself 
with what may or might have been. 

Some persons have an active, some have a passive 
imagination, some delight in poetry, paintings, music, 
etc., who have not the capacity to produce either, — 
they lack the power of combination, they can conceive 
but cannot execute, they have imagination, but not the 
taste and skill to execute, they cannot create. 

It is not a separate and distinct power of the mind 
or a faculty of itself, although the faculty of ideal con- 
ception is a power of the mind, not a poser of combi- 
nation alone, for it uses invention. 

USES AND ABUSES OF IMAGINATION 

It lightens up the whole world of thought ; without 



386 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

its light the world would be dreary and sad as a waste. 

No man can be eloquent without the use of the 
ideal, nor an artist without the true ideal; it opens 
up to us new worlds. It is the inspiration of the souL 

The man without imagination cannot appreciate the 
work of nature or art, or music, oratory, painting or 
poetry. Their beauties are hidden to them, they have 
not the soul of inspiration to perceive them. Imag- 
ination may show the bright side to the picture of na- 
ture and life, or it may if sickly or distorted portray its 
most dark and gloomy pictures, it may do much good, 
or much harm. 

The ideal faculty is strengthened by use and im- 
paired by disuse. To prevent its development is to cut 
ourselves off from some of the highest, noblest and 
purest sources of the pleasures of mortal life. It may 
give us ambition to struggle for a condition of perfec- 
tion and excellence which though we may never obtain, 
yet it will make us more than we would be without it. 

To attain excellence we must imagine what could 
and ought to be. Study nature all can do, and it costs 
nothing. Most writers agree that imagination is a 
complex faculty, the power of combining of new forms 
the various elements of thought already in the mind. 

THE REFLECTIVE POWERS 

They compose a large part of our mental activity, 
and may be stated as relative suggestion or relative 
conception, or comprehension, the relation of the 
whole to its parts — it may be synthetic or analytic. 

SYNTHETIC PROOFS OR GENERALIZATION 

Objects are first presented to the mind as discrete, 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 387 

that is, separate and distinct, and then the objects or 
parts may be grouped into the concrete or general and 
massed into a whole. Classification is made up in this 
way, by abstract or general, and by individual or spe- 
cific objects or names thereof : most of our words are 
of the class generalization, as the idea of man, beauty 
seen as a whole conception of the object or thing. 

Abstraction denotes the synthetic process and a gen- 
eral idea of the object, or a general conception of it. 

The realist and the nominalist dispute — the one 
takes the object as real, the other looks at it as his own 
conception of it only — this gives rise to what is called 
conceptionalism, that the abstract idea of man, moun- 
tain, etc., may have no real existence, while still the 
mind forms an idea in conception of it. — Locke was a 
conceptionalist. 

REASONING, THE ANALYTIC PROOFS 

Reasoning is simply mental analysis, a series of 
mental propositions in consecutive order carried to a 
legitimate conclusion. Example : " Man is mortal." 
This is a complex idea. — What is true of a class must 
be true of an individual of a class. " A " is a man, and 
man is mortal. " A " as an individual is mortal, and 
then the class man must also be mortal. By analysis 
I find that " A " as an individual is mortal, and by 
synthesis I find that " A " belongs to a class, man in 
the general sense, and therefore man is mortal. 

Analytical reasoning is the resolving a complex idea 
into its individual parts. 

That all deductive reasoning is essentially the ana- 
lytical proofs is evident from the fact that the syllo- 
gism to which all such argument may be reduced is 



388 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

based upon the admitted principle that whatever is 
true of a class is true of all individuals under it. 



MENTAL PHILOSOPHY 

All reasoning is essentially analytic in its nature. 

The inductive method is not an exception to this 
rule, but the reverse. 

Judgment is synthetic — Reasoning analytic. 

Reasoning is often defined " a combination of judg- 
ments." 

Mathematical demonstration, the highest degree of 
certainty. 

Source of evidence, induction, experience, analogy. 

Inductive reasoning begins with individual cases 
and from them infers a general conclusion. The de- 
ductive starts with a general proposition and ends by 
inferring a particular one. 

Induction goes on the ground that what we know to 
be true in certain observed cases must be true in all 
like cases. The . . . syllogistic mode of reasoning 
was discarded by Locke, Reid and other modern phi- 
losophers. 

This is founded on the Uniformity of Nature. 
There was a superstition among the ancients that all 
moral and physical events returned in the course of a 
cycle of years. 

Analogy is not always a sure proof of reasoning, it 
is better for defense than proof. 

HYPOTHESIS 

Much the same as theory, both have conjecture, not 
certainty but possibility. It leads to discovery ; with- 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 389 

out it Newton and Kepler would not have made their 
discoveries of gravitation and motion. 

INTUITION 

Locke takes the grounds that all our ideas may be 
traced to sensation and reflection. Intuition is the 
result of base conception without reasoning or reflec- 
tion. We decide at a glance. It is original concep- 
tion. Ideas of reason at a glance. 

INSTINCT 

The intelligence of the brute in opposition to that of 
man, is termed instinct. It is a law of action. An im- 
pulse inherent in the constitution of the animal, the 
impulse of nature, but not reason. 

I do not think that man possesses the power of 
intellect as an intellectual faculty; in man it is a 
power depending entirely upon his sensibilities, a 
result of the faculties of the senses. O. J. H. 

Man decides and acts from reason and experience, 
brute, from impulse and instinct. Instinct with the 
brute supplies to them the office of intuition with man. 
O. J. H. 

SCIENCE OF THE BEAUTIFUL 

The ideas of the beautiful and the right are intu- 
itive, — they are simple and primary ideas ; the beauti- 
ful is the conception of reason and intuition, — the 
aesthetics of the perceptive faculty, it assumes the form 
of taste, and it is the pigment of the aesthetics. 

Conception of the beautiful is difficult to define, — 
some make it sensation, some association, some that 
beauty is the sign or expression of some quality fitted 



390 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

to awake pleasing emotions within us. It lies ulti- 
mately in the mind, not in matter, and is only beauti- 
ful as it affects the mind, so thought Plato. Some, 
like Kant and Schiller, make it only the play of the 
imagination. Some have a spiritual theory which con- 
sists of the inward hidden view of the spiritual influ- 
ence. 

Is beauty merely subjective? or objective? That it 
produces emotion is admitted, but not emotion merely. 
It is emotion produced by the qualities of objects, the 
beauty lies as well in the object as in the beholder. 
We consider beauty an object; though reflected from 
the mind, undoubtedly it may be considered both ob- 
jective and subjective. There is no evidence of its 
existence except from its effect. Novelty heightens 
beauty. We differ in our faculties in appreciating 
beauty. The possession of a beautiful object never 
fully satisfies. The useful is not always beautiful. 

The animal and vegetable portions of creation have 
their peculiar trend of beauty, flowers and plants 
almost have a love of intelligence. Man's beauty con- 
sists in expression of the emotions of the soul, intel- 
lect, and expression. 

TASTE 

Are our feelings or sensibilities pleased with the 
work of nature or not? The pleasure lies in the result 
of the power of perceiving, combined with the power 
of feeling and the faculty by which we perceive, which 
makes us feel and enjoy the beautiful and sublime. 
This power may be intellectual or it may be sensa- 
tional. 

.Taste requires intellectual and perceptive power. 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 391 

No form of judgment requires more cultivation than 
that of taste. The reason why some persons have no 
taste for music, painting, art, etc., is that nature has 
not constituted them to perceive their beauties. 
O. J. H. 

OF THE RIGHT AND CONSCIENCE 

If we see a moral act performed, we involuntarily, 
immediately, pronounce it either right or wrong. 
How do we come by this faculty? What is its origin? 
Some writers say it is from education, fashion, some 
legal restriction, human or divine, some the exercise 
of judgment, others natural intuitions of the mind. 
If they are artificial, they come from education, if 
natural, they come from the sensibilities and intellect 
combined. Locke, Paley and others hold they come 
from education and imitation ; but it is answered edu- 
cation, etc., does not account for the origin of any- 
thing. The author Haven attributes them to a special 
sense. Hume and Sophocles held that they resulted 
merely from our sensations, and not from a natural 
conception, holding that man is the measure of things, 
and things only what they seem to us. 

MENTAL PHILOSOPHY 

The sense of right is sometimes called the special 
sense. All men have some idea of right and wrong, 
yet there is great variety in its application by different 
men to moral conduct. What one approves as virtue, 
another condemns as vice, some make conscience a 
bare sentiment, but this will not account for the origin 
of the idea. The sentiment is the effect of the emo- 
tions of pity, gratitude, resentment, etc., arising from 



392 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

sympathy and association, hence we approve virtue 
and disapprove vice ; this makes the standard of right 
and wrong variable, and dependent on men's feelings. 
The moral sentiment is not the result of education 
and habit or its legal enactment, natural and not 
artificial. Such ideas are intuitive and the result of 
the suggestions of reason. We are conscious of this 
principle whenever we contemplate our own actions, 
or those of others; the child recognizes the idea of 
right and wrong immediately. An act strikes us as 
right or wrong — this is perception of an idea and 
judgment thereon. It involves the idea of duty or 
obligation; that the men ought to do it or not to do 
it ; this is what we call the moral faculty. 

ANALYSIS OF CONSCIENCE OR MORAL FACULTY 

1st, The mental perception that a given act is 
right or wrong. 

2nd. The perception or obligation as to doing a 
right or wrong act. 

3rd. The perception of merit or demerit in doing 
the act, with approbation or censure for having done 
it. 

4th. Feeling certain emotions, or joy or pain for 
having done the act. The moral faculty is not by 
divine influence, but is a faculty devised for man. 

There is not a human faculty that is not liable to 
err, but conscience should rule and be binding. 

Nature is said to act uniformly, but there is a great 
diversity in human judgment. 

Education, habits, laws and customs do not orig- 
inate, but have much to do with the development and 



OKLO JAY HAMLIN 393 

modification of our ideas of moral actions or con- 
science. 

A child will weep over cruelty to a fellow child or 
toward a domestic animal, and yet by custom shoot 
and kill or wound a bird or catch one in a trap and 
cause it to die a lingering death of pain and misery, 
and feel no remorse or regret. O. J. H. 

Therefore conscience is not always a safe guide, 
as the acts of Saul of Tarsus. A moral act should 
be weighed in the balance of judgment before deci- 
sion. 

THE WILL 

The powers of the mind may be classed the intellect, 
sensibility and the will. In all systems of mental 
philosophy the will holds a cardinal place and the 
same in theology. 

By the will we understand that power of the mind 
which determines what to do ; the volitions of the mind. 

The judgment is the judicial power and the will the 
executive power of the mind. O. J. H. 

Motive is the first element of power that moves the 
will. Desire, a cause of motive. Choice depends on 
volition. In choice we have liberty of selection. It 
implies deliberation. 

FREEDOM OF WILL 

It is free whence it is not burdened or restrained 
in its action, when it is free to choose this or that 
course, and knows after the act that it could have 
chosen or done differently. O. J. H. 

Will was intended by our Creator to guide our ac- 
tions. 



394 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

To say we have no power over our own will 
is fatalism. The fatalist maintains that we are 
governed by circumstances out of our power to con- 
trol, so it would be impossible to act otherwise. They 
argue it from necessity — we are under a necessity 
to do what we do. This would lead to the result 
that we are not accountable for what we do. But if 
we have no liberty to choose, then there is neither 
merit nor demerit in our actions. 

Divine providence has the power to direct the sur- 
rounding circumstances of man's condition so as to 
give any direction he pleases, by causing those cir- 
cumstances which act upon his volitions, yet man is 
left free to act as he pleases. 

Our motives may proceed from duty, desire, self- 
love or obligation. The will assumes to be controlled 
by the strongest motive, and yet if that motive be 
desire it may be controlled by reason, else it would 
not be best for us. Better to say, " motives are the 
reasons we act so and so." Man's entire free will, 
and God's entire control over him cannot be recon- 
ciled. Evidently freedom of the will lies in the power 
of exercising our choice or volition, and there is al- 
ways a reason for our choice. 

The circumstances which control our choice are 
entirely beyond our power to control. Man cannot 
do impossibilities. I have not power to change my 
affections and inclinations. The fatalists claim that 
man has no power to change the current of his incli- 
nations — his motives turn him this way and that. 

It is not true in philosophy that man has no power 
to do what he has no disposition to do ; he may control 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 395 

or guide both his inclinations and affections to a 
large extent, hence want of inclination is not want of 
power. 

The gospel meets the necessity of inducing men to 
do what is right. There is great diversity in men's 
power of will, some are easily led by others, while 
others like " Fitz James " will say, " come one, come 
all, this rock shall fly from its firm base as soon as I." 

MORAL PHILOSOPHY — HISTORICAL — THE WILL 

The Epicureans allowed liberty to the will, as op- 
posed to fate, but were Necessitarians. 

The Stoics maintained the doctrine of fate, but 
held to the utmost liberty of will. 

The Saddueees held to human freedom of will, — 
the Pharisees to such a degree of fatality as is incon- 
sistent with human freedom of will. 

The Mohammedans were fatalists. 

Luther opposed the scheme of necessity, while Cal- 
vin maintained necessity as a consequence of his the- 
ology. 

Locke believed in liberty of the will, but somewhat 
governed by necessity. 

Leibnitz believed in necessity of the will, Edwards 
believed in liberty, but Edwards was under a 
moral necessity. The latter necessitarians, Priestley, 
Belsham, Diderot and others, held that " God is the 
real and responsible doer of whatever comes to pass, 
and that man is a passive instrument in His hands." 

Hamilton could not conceive of a free act, because 
that would assume action to be without a cause. 

Kant held that any influence causing a man to act 



396 ORLO JAY HAMLIN 

moved the will and therefore the will could not be 
free. 

Cousin held to the disposition to do a thing ren- 
dered ; he held the will is not free. 

The sensibilities, not belonging to the mental de- 
partment. Classification. The affections, passions, 
desires, hope and fear. 

28 July, 1871. 

O. J. H. 



DANTE'S POEMS, TRANSLATED BY 
LONGFELLOW 

DANTE was born at Florence in Italy, in A. D. 
1265, in the upper class of society, well educated, 
somewhat scientific, at one time a magistrate, and 
once a consul or ambassador. When a boy he fell in 
love with a young girl near his own age whose name 
was Beatrice Portinari. She was the beau ideal of 
his imagination and on her he bestowed the whole of 
his ardent love. They were separated and she mar- 
ried another person. She soon after died. Dante 
also married, but not happily. He was banished by 
the magistrate and wandered several years. He was 
more than once a soldier for Florence. He belonged 
to a political party not in favor with the majority 
of the people and hence his banishment. Once he 
was advertised to be taken and burned. His property 
was confiscated and he was very poor. As all of earth 
was lost, he fixed his thoughts on another state of 
being in the other world; being a devoted Catholic, 
he believed in purgatory, and in his poetic dreams 
made Beatrice who was dead and in heaven as he be- 
lieved, the personification of angelic perfection in 
heaven where she obtained leave to guide him through 
hell, purgatory and heaven. She deputed Virgil or 
Virgilius, the poet, to be his guide, according to the 
poem. He died in exile at Ravenna at fifty-six years 
of age. 

397 



398 LIFE AND WORKS OF 



PURGATORIO 

The doctrine of purgatory was established and the 
dogma settled as a church doctrine by Pope Gregory 
the Great in the sixth century, probably borrowed 
from the pagan idea and adopted to give the clergy 
power in the Romish church, giving the clergy almost 
unlimited power over purgatory. 

The southern cross of four stars, or the Centaur, 
was much venerated by the ancient Catholics. They 
used it as a clock to determine the hour of the night. 

It is believed that the early inhabitants of the 
earth saw the southern cross at the north and that 
by the procession of the equinoxes, it will again be 
seen at the north after a lapse of centuries (perhaps 
ten or twelve hundred years) . 

COLORS SYMBOLIZED BY THE ANCIENT POETS AND 
PAINTERS 

Green, the symbol of hope, the distinguishing vir- 
tue of purgatory. 

White, the diamond and silver, symbol of light, 
purity, innocence, virginity, faith, joy and life. 

Red, that of fire, divine love, the Holy Spirit, heat 
and royalty. 

Red and white, innocence and love. 

Blue or the Sapphire, heaven, the firmament, truth, 
constancy, fidelity. 

Yellow or gold, the sun, goodness of God, marriage, 
faith. 

Green, Emerald, the spring, hope, hope of immor- 
tality. 

Violet or amethyst, love and truth. 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 399 

Gray, humility and innocence of the accused (color 
of ashes). 

Black, mourning, the earth, wickedness, death. 

THE SEVEN SINS PUNISHED IN PURGATORY 

1. Pride. 2. Envy. 3. Anger. 4. Sloth. 5. Avar- 
ice. 6. Gluttony. 7. Lust. 

St. Nicholas was the patron saint of children, sail- 
ors and travelers. He was very generous to children 
and did many generous acts for others. 



ABSTRACT OF WAYLAND'S MORAL SCIENCE, 
OR PHILOSOPHY, 1835-1865 

MORAL LAW 

ETHICS or moral philosophy is the science of 
moral law. 

Law, a form of existence or order of sequence. 

Moral philosophy takes it for granted that there 
is a moral quality in human actions, wrong and right. 

Moral philosophy assumes that there is in the ac- 
tions of men a moral quality to which certain se- 
quences are annexed by our Creator. 

Moral law is the effect or sequence resulting from 
a human action. 

Ethics classifies and illustrates moral law. 

Moral philosophy presupposes a first great cause, 
a Creator. 

An order of sequence is as certain in morals as 
in physics. 

The moral law of God cannot be varied by the in- 
stitutions of man any more than the physical laws 
of nature. 

The sequence may come soon or late but is certain 
to follow. 

WHAT IS MORAL ACTION? 

Actions are only affirmed of beings having a will. 
And moral actions of beings having a will and intelli- 
gence to direct the action, as man has a will and intel- 

400 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 401 

ligence, these constitute him a moral agent and sub- 
jects him to moral government. 

Brutes are subjects of government by men, but as 
they have not (or little) intelligence, they are not 
responsible. They know not the right and the wrong, 
morally. 

The moral quality of an action depends on the de- 
sign or intention of the individual who does the act. 

Every man is morally bound to restrain his pas- 
sions so that he will work no injury to another per- 
son. 

The right or wrong of every action is determined by 
its intention to do good or evil. 

From the imagination springs the first inception 
of crime, the criminal plans the crime before he com- 
mits it. (Better never to meditate upon pleasurable 
ideas resulting from vice.) 

WHENCE ARE OUR MORAL IDEAS DERIVED? 

All our ideas are either original or derived. 

Moral ideas form a distinct class by themselves. 

Our moral ideas of right and wrong come to the 
mind spontaneously the moment they are presented. 

We arrive at our ideas of right and wrong by con- 
templating the actions of intelligent beings, in vir- 
tue of the constitution given us by our Creator. 

The moral idea is original and incapable of defi- 
nition. ( Dubitatur. ) 

The moral idea embraces the idea of moral obli- 
gation to others. 

We are under obligation to God for all we have and 
are and hope to be, hence our obligations to him are 
superior to all others, and next to our fellow beings. 



402 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

Our feeling of moral obligation is an instinctive 
impulse arising from the principles of our constitu- 
tion. ( Intuitive. ) 

To constitute a moral agent, a being must have 
intelligence to understand his relations to the beings 
by whom he is surrounded and his moral obligations 
to them. He must possess a moral power to feel the 
obligations under which he rests. 

He is accountable in proportion to his opportunity 
to acquire a knowledge of the relations in which he 
stands to others. (Is this always true?) 

CONSCIENCE OR THE MORAL SENSE 

Conscience is that faculty by which we discern the 
moral quality of actions. 

Nearly all men perceive the moral quality of actions 
and nearly all agree that this or that act is right or 
wrong so that our moral perceptions are nearly uni- 
form or universal. 

This notion or perception is different from any 
other notion. It follows that the moral faculty is a 
separate and distinct faculty or quality of the mind. 

It is said this faculty should, therefore, be universal, 
but it is not universal, for what some nations ap- 
prove, others reject, as infanticide, parricide, danc- 
ing, etc. 

We discover the moral quality of actions in the 
intentions. 

The world over (Pagan and Christian), admits 
the principle of moral good and moral evil. There 
is in the heart of man a " moral instinct " to repel 
vice and approve virtue. (I would say a moral in- 
tuition. ) 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 403 

This faculty exists imperfectly among savages and 
uncultivated men. 

The use of conscience is to discern our moral ob- 
ligations and impel us to the right action. 

The possession of this power of moral perception 
is necessary to moral accountability. 

HOW THE CONSCIENCE ACTS 

A human action suggests the idea of obligation. 
We ought to do or we ought not to do (something). 
Conscience determines which we ought to do or not 
to do. Conscience perceives the wrong and tells us 
not to do it. 

The obeying of conscience leads to approval, the 
disobeying of it to regret and remorse. We expect 
certain consequences to follow the violation of con- 
science, retribution, punishment, either here or here- 
after or both. 

Everyone shall receive at the judgment bar of Christ 
according to his works. II. Corinthians. 

AUTHORITY OF CONSCIENCE 

The impulse of conscience is the highest authority 
with which we are acquainted. 

The most exalted character is he who always yields 
implicitly to the impulses or dictates of conscience. 

Conscience enables us to carry out the design of 
our Creator, as one man exists in relation to another 
or to society, a part of the system for the promotion 
of our own, and the happiness of others. It impels us 
to do right. 

Self-interest implies to seek our own happiness, but 
conscience checks us from doing what would injure 



404 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

another, even though it would gratify our own feel- 
ings or passions. 

The office of conscience is to restrain our appetites 
and desires us not to injure ourselves or others. 

Were every man unrestrained in his appetites and 
passions, it would be the destruction of society. Man 
would become a ferocious beast. 

The authority of conscience is supreme. 

God intended man for virtue and gave him the 
faculty of conscience for his guide. 

CULTIVATION OF CONSCIENCE 

It is strengthened by use and impaired by disuse. 
The arm, the eye, etc., are strengthened by use. 

Not improved by reading moral essays nor by com- 
mitting to memory moral precepts, nor imagining 
moral vicissitudes, but by harkening to its monitions 
and obeying them. (From this idea, I dissent. O. 
J. H.) 

It is improved by reflecting on the moral character 
of our actions or actions of others. 

By viewing vice we become accustomed to and in- 
different to it. In like manner if we habitually vio- 
late our conscience, we become accustomed to it and 
indifferent. 

By obeying its dictates, we form the habit of doing 
right. 

The sensibility of conscience gives us pleasure or 
pain. 

Whole societies, as well as individuals, have be- 
come accustomed to the violation of consciences, as 
the gladiatorial combats and bull fights, and scenes 
of bloodshed in the French Revolution. 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 405 

Though the monitions of conscience be stifled for 
a time, yet the pangs of guilt nearly always finally 
come, even on a death bed. Remorse is sure to follow 
guilt. 

To cultivate conscience, always ask, " Is this action 
right? " Obey its first and slightest monitions. " Its 
slightest touch, instantly pursue." 

Let us reflect, " What shall it benefit a man if 
he gain the whole world and lose his own soul ? " 

The rebukes of conscience are the rebukes of a 
friend. 

The possession of this faculty renders us account- 
able beings. By it we are brought into moral re- 
lations with God and all intelligent moral be- 
ings. 

The exercise of conscience makes every man " a law 
unto himself." Constantly " accusing or excusing 
us," as the Apostle Paul tells us. 

OF VIRTUE IN GENERAL 

We are under relations to God and our fellow beings 
and perhaps to other beings, but of the latter we can- 
not know here. 

These relations impose upon us certain obligations 
to God and to other beings. 

Those obligations impose the love of God and our 
fellow beings in the carrying out of our natural affec- 
tions. 

A right action carries out those affections; wrong 
if violation thereof. 

Virtue; the doing of right and obedience to con- 
science mean the same thing. 

If a man knows not the relations in which he stands 



406 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

to others and has not the means of knowing them he 
stands guiltless. 

If he knows them or has the means of knowing them 
which he does not improve, he is guilty. 

St. Paul alleged that the heathen were guilty of 
sinning against God because his attributes may be 
known by the light of nature. 

As an action may be right or wrong, if the actor 
has no means of knowing it to be wrong, he is morally 
guiltless in doing it. 

Intellectual man is capable of moral progress, of 
improvement, and is responsible for its improvement 
or misimprovement. 

The frequent repetition of an act makes it easier, 
as of music, etc. Hence we should form habits of 
practicing virtue. 

By the repetition of virtuous acts, moral power is 
gained. 

Habit has such an effect upon the will as to es- 
tablish a tendency towards the impossibility to re- 
sist it. 

Habits cannot alter the nature of the act, as right 
or wrong. 

One who overcomes one evil tempter has acquired 
moral power to overcome another. 

By means of our intellectual powers, we understand 
our relations to others. By means of our moral 
powers we become conscious of our obligations. 

The power of habit may (I think) become so strong 
as to control the will. O. J. H. 

HUMAN HAPPINESS 

God has created a world without us (physical) 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 407 

and a world within us (intellectual) and these are 
designed by him to harmonize. 

Certain objects give us pleasure, others pain. This 
power of receiving pleasure or pain is frequently 
termed sensitiveness. 

The idea of happiness is derived from the exercise 
of this power of sensitiveness upon the objects around 
us. 

Happiness is the gratification of desire, the enjoy- 
ment of what we love. Doctor Johnson remarks, 
" Happiness consists in the multiplication of agree- 
able consciousness." But this desire for gratification 
should always be restrained by reason. 

While it is true that happiness is the gratification 
of our desires, it is not the whole truth. It consists 
in the gratification of our desires within the limits 
assigned to them by our Creator. 

Hence our greatest happiness can only be attained 
by conforming to the laws of virtue, that is, to the 
will of God. 

MY OWN IDEA OF HAPPINESS 

Is the possession of sound health, both of body and 
mind and the occupation of our time in some inno- 
cent, agreeable and useful employment and the reason- 
able gratification of our innocent desires. In other 
words, calm contentment and the doing of those things 
which innocently give to us the most reasonable pleas- 
ure without subjecting us to the pains which must 
follow from improper excess. O. J. H. 

SELF-LOVE 

Is that part of our constitution by which we are 



408 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

impelled to do or forbear to do, to gratify our desires 
or deny them on the ground of procuring the greatest 
present or future good. 

A man who has no desires, no sensitiveness, can 
have no happiness, for he has nothing to exercise his 
sensitiveness upon, indifferent without activity. 

When his sensitiveness has left him, he may become 
a hypochondriac. The power of affection or emotion 
seems paralyzed. 

Self-love is an impulse rather than a faculty, an 
impulse prompting to ambition or other gratification 
of our desires. 

It prompts one to act for his own happiness. 

When conscience speaks the voice of self-love should 
be silent. 

Self-love and selfishness are very different things. 
Selfishness is vicious while self-love may be innocent. 

HOW WE MAY KNOW OUR DUTY BY THE LIGHT OF 
NATURE 

We know that there is a first cause, God, and that 
he has created us with a constitution capable of act- 
ing so as to produce pain or pleasure to ourselves and 
others. Hence we see he had a design and that is 
for us to act so as to promote the happiness of our- 
selves and others, because if he had not that design, he 
would not have given us these faculties. 

Society is necessary for our own happiness as well 
as others and hence the necessity of acting in a way 
to promote the happiness of society and others. 

We see the effects of intemperance, gluttony, re- 
venge, libertinism, etc., and consequently we may 
know that God forbids them. 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 409 

1. God has given to man a moral and intellectual 
constitution by which we may know duty. 

2. He allows man to act free, rightly or wrongly as 
he chooses. 

3. He has connected pleasure with doing good and 
pain with doing wrong. 

4. Hence, by their effects upon us and society, we 
may know the will of God concerning us, for all of 
which he holds us responsible. 

WE MAY DISCOVER OUR DUTY BY THE LIGHT OF NATURE 

By observing the effect of our actions upon our- 
selves and others we may know the will of God to- 
wards us. 

But the unassisted conscience will not determine 
all wrongs as divorces and polygamy. 

Natural religion presents motives for the practice 
of virtue by rewards for virtuous actions and punish- 
ment for vicious actions. 

We discover the character of God by his works 
around us, goodness and perfection of wisdom and ad- 
aptation to the benefit of man. 

Natural religion presents to us the character of 
God and man's duty. This renders all men respon- 
sible. 

Every people not acquainted with the Kevelations 
consider the earliest part of their history of the great- 
est moral purity. Then they say the gods and men 
held frequent intercourse, but this intercourse by the 
sins of men was finally withdrawn. That was to 
them the Golden Age — the subsequent ages were of 
brass and iron. 

The heathen system of morals made men worse in- 



410 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

stead of better. Their gods were often of profligate 
or demoralizing character. 

The moral precepts of the pagan philosophers made 
few converts from vice to virtue, and this was not 
owing to want of intellectual culture. The human 
mind was highly cultivated in philosophy, poetry, 
rhetoric and the arts. The moderns have not been 
more cultivated, yet the classic ages made little or 
no progress in morals. 

Natural religion shows us that guilt is punished 
in this world and we might infer that it would be so 
punished in another world hereafter. But whether 
there be another world, natural religion does not en- 
lighten us. That fact we only know from Revela- 
tion. 

Nothing short of punishment in an endless existence 
will deter us from crime and the indulgence of pas- 
sion. ( Dubitatur. ) 

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION 

They teach in perfect harmony. But revealed 
teaches us duties which we could not learn from nat- 
ural. The one teaches plainly what the other does 
by inference. The Bible teaches eternal life and 
rewards and punishments which nature does not 
teach. 

THE HOLY SCRIPTURES 

The Old Testament contains a system of moral laws 
intended for a rude people. Many practices were 
first allowed which were afterwards forbidden. The 
Old Testament contained the moral law, the civil law 
and the ceremonial law. The natural law was tried 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 411 

by people who surrounded the Jewish nation and 
failed to produce any moral reformation. 

The New Testament was designed to reveal to man 
the will of God, the practice of virtue and a remedial 
dispensation. The moral precepts of the Old Testa- 
ment were urged by the Apostles. The Scriptures de- 
clare the whole moral law to be contained in the word 
" Love." Love to God or piety, love to man or moral- 
ity. 

God exerts over us unlimited proprietorship, as he 
has created us. We are his creatures. 

We are created to love and admire the beautiful and 
hence we should love and admire the first cause which 
created them and us. 

A single emotion of happiness deserves our grati- 
tude to its Author. 

Every individual has some power over society, for 
good or for evil. 

Repentance is that, from the consideration of filial 
obedience and a knowledge of our own sinfulness, we 
resolve to commence a new life of moral purity and 
obedience. 

THE SABBATH 

God appointed one day in seven for rest. 

It was instituted by Moses. 

It is believed that the Greeks and Romans observed 
the hebdomadal division of time, and also the northern 
nations of Europe. 

It is found in the law of the Ten Commandments. 

The Christian Sabbath is the one day in seven on 
which the Saviour rose from the dead, the Resurrec- 
tion. 



412 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

The Apostles taught that the keeping of the seventh 
day was not obligatory, and they kept the first day 
or Sunday. 

Not the duty of the civil magistrates to enforce the 
keeping of the Sabbath, but it is his duty to protect 
every man in worshiping God as he pleases. 

RECIPROCITY 

The relation of every man in society is as an equal, 
equality of right. 

Every man is created with perfect equality of rights. 

It is a truth that every man has a right to himself. 

It may be asserted that superiority of condition 
(muscular strength, talent, intellect, wealth, etc.) 
gives superiority of right. This is not true. 

The law of universal reciprocity applies as well to 
societies or nations as to individuals. Each are 
morally bound to respect the rights of the other. 

PERSONAL LIBERTY 

Every human being is, by his constitution, a sepa- 
rate, complete and distinct system, adapted to all the 
purposes of self-government and responsibility sepa- 
rately to God for the manner in which his powers are 
employed. 

He possesses a body connecting him with the phys- 
ical universe, an understanding, passions and desires, 
conscience, will. 

He may need society, but so do others. Hence all 
enter it upon terms of evident reciprocity. 

Man is responsible to God, but is not responsible 
to man nor is man responsible to him (man). In 
other words, every man has a right to himself. 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 413 

The true constitution of man that his will is in- 
fluenced by no other circumstances than those under 
which God created him. 

He who, for his own pleasure, places his fellowman 
under any other conditions is guilty of the most odi- 
ous tyranny. 

Has society a right to require him to cultivate his 
intellect? Society may make that one of the condi- 
tions of his admission. 

If he has the right to pursue his earthly happiness, 
how much more important that he be permitted to 
promote his future happiness in another state of 
being, in eternity. 

Every man has a right, without molesting others, 
to worship God or not to worship him, and that wor- 
ship in his own manner. 

The domestic relations give certain rights as be- 
tween parent and child, husband and wife, guardian 
and ward, master and apprentice, etc. 

We hold these truths self-evident, that all men are 
created equal, etc. 

VIOLATION OF PERSONAL LIBERTY BY THE INDIVIDUAL 

(Anti-Slavery Chapter) 

Slavery can only be justified in these ways ; 

1st. That it is authorized by general law, under 
which human beings are constituted. 

2d. That it has in some way been signified to us by 
the Creator that one portion of the human race is 
made to be slaves to the other portion. 

Slavery is established by force and robbing men of 
their liberties by force of war or strategy. 

By existing usage and laws, the offspring of a slave 



414 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

mother is in all respects a slave, though he or she be 
the child of a white man, or even of its master. 

No matter how small a portion of negro blood runs 
in his veins, he is still a slave. 

Slavery cannot be in obedience to the will of God, 
because this would supplant moral force by physical 
force and God governs men by moral force. 

Can it be that a God of love and mercy would ap- 
prove slavery which causes people to war upon one 
another and finally destroy the race? 

Slavery produces in one party pride, anger, selfish- 
ness, cruelty and licentiousness, and in the other ly- 
ing, hypocrisy, and yielding to the will and desires 
of another. 

It restricts labor to part of the races and allows 
the rest to live in idleness and luxury. It makes 
labor disgraceful, takes away the stimulus to frugality 
and to labor. 

If slavery be admissible, any man may by force 
make another his slave, if he can, or any nation make 
another nation slaves if it can. 

Noah's denunciation to Ham was not a prophecy. 
How was Noah so instructed to declare by God, but 
as the result of his own mortification and anger. 
If it was prophecy, it would not authorize one man to 
enslave another any more than it would authorize 
Judas to betray the Saviour. 

The Hebrews under Moses adopted slavery from the 
Egyptians, and the people were rude; God permitted 
slavery to be retained. 

For Moses to have declared against slavery would 
have caused a rebellion among his people and driven 
them to idolatry. 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 415 

The Saviour did not abolish or rebuke slavery 
Had he done so, it would have arrayed a large party 
against the Christian religion, but he taught such 
doctrines and announced such moral precepts as 
would, if regarded, in the course of time cause slavery 
to be eradicated. 

July 1, 1871. 



PROFESSOR STONE'S " INVITATION 
HEEDED " 

A REVIEW 

THE standing prediction of the Protestants is 
the speedy downfall for the Catholic Church 
and yet they now have one hundred fifty millions of 
communicants. 

Hobbes said, " The papacy is the ghost of the Roman 
Empire sitting crowned upon the ghost thereof " and 
yet it lives. 

The history of that Church joins together the two 
great ages of human civilization. Her great theory 
or dogma is, "I never change, I came from God and 
God is always the same." 

The system of the Catholic Church is a system of 
restraints upon the sinner. It wages a ceaseless war- 
fare against the lusts of the flesh. 

The great failure of Protestantism is the loose- 
ness in which they hold the marriage tie, the ease of 
obtaining divorces and the murder of innocents (in- 
fanticide), while the Catholics hold marriage a sacra- 
ment and grant no divorces, and teach that foeticide 
(self -abortion) is a crime, that of murder and next 
to it. Few cases of foeticide occur among Catholics, 
many among Protestants. 

The Protestant Church owes its foundation in Eng- 

416 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 417 

land to the refusal of Pope Clement VII to divorce 
Henry VIII from his wife, who had been the widow 
of his deceased brother. 

Pius VII refused to divorce Jerome Bonaparte from 
an American Protestant lady (Miss Patterson of Bal- 
timore). 

The Catholics believe that God pronounced man 
and wife " and they twain (two) shall be of one flesh 
and whom God hath joined together, let no man put 
asunder" (no man has power to put asunder or di- 
vorce), that the confessional and denouncing foeticide 
as a crime prevents that crime among Catholics. 

The Catholics say their church is a unity as to 
doctrine, while the Protestants are divided into many 
sects and that God himself has pronounced their 
doom— "a house divided against itself shall not 
stand." 

The Protestants have made no conquests since the 
reformation. 

The Catholics bring the gospel to the poor, the 
Protestants to the rich. 

Protestantism has failed as a missionary effort. 

" Woe to the sects that have torn the garment with- 
out a seam." 

Protestantism has developed into naturalism and 
rationalism. 

The Protestants deny all miracles since the days 
of the Apostles, but a miracle is proved by the testi- 
mony of witnesses and if a miracle occurring in the 
19th century is verified by responsible testimony, it is 
as much to be relied on as though it were proved to 
have taken place in the 1st century. Both must 
be tested by the criterion of truth. 



418 LIFE AND WOKKS OF 

The writings of the Fathers abound in accounts of 
miracles and are to be relied upon for the testimony 
of their truth. 

Komanism has been ever the guardian and dissemi- 
nator of education. From the first the Romanists 
established colleges and schools in their monasteries 
and convents and preserved the rudiments of knowl- 
edge among the monks during the middle and dark 
ages of the 9th, 10th and 11th centuries. They were 
the first to revive the Grecian and Roman classics. 
They have disseminated universities all over Europe. 
To them we are indebted for the preservation of the 
Holy Scriptures intact. 

In the dark ages when Europe was overrun by the 
northern barbarian pagans, the Church beat back the 
surges like a rock, and for ages had to contend against 
the paganism, the passions and the barbarisms which 
these new-comers sought to introduce, and nobly they 
succeeded in subduing the violence and the passions 
of the new people among them and winning them 
from paganism to the Gospel truths. 

The feudal nobility of the intruders were proud, 
violent and licentious, but were brought by the Church 
to observe order, abide law and justice and refrain 
from dissoluteness. 

The history of the Church proves that it exercised 
and held a large influence in checking the violence 
of those who rose up in contention among the princes 
and the aristocracy of the middle ages, and the Church 
proves the amelioration of their manners to civiliza- 
tion. 

After the fall of the Roman Empire, the Church 
formed by its functions a bond of unity among the 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 419 

people superior to force and superior to base national- 
ities that held society together by a bond of Catholic 
union and thus laid the foundation of modern civili- 
zation, softening the bonds of slavery into serfdom 
and laying the grounds for eventual emancipation. 

A general awakening of mind and revival of learn- 
ing began four hundred years before the reformation. 

The doctrine of physical coercion is no part of the 
Catholic faith. 

The Inquisition only told Galileo to stick to his 
science and leave the interpretation of Scriptures to 
the Church. 

The Catholic Church did not oppose the Copernican 
system. Copernicus was himself an honored Cath- 
olic priest at Rome, and dedicated one of his most 
learned works to the Pope. 

The first act of private judgment of the Protestant 
Church shivered their Church into many fragments, 
each of which began to persecute the Catholics in Eng- 
land and denied them worship according to the dic- 
tates of their own consciences. 

Religious toleration is as much the result of that 
rationalistic system which gradually grew up among 
the people, as the Reformation, and is alike the work 
of the Catholics and the Protestant sects. 

Catholics have faith, Protestants have hope; so had 
Plato a hope in a divine power — strong hope. 

The Protestants feel uncertain; certainty is the 
essence of faith. 

The Church has been under a supernatural guid- 
ance of truth since the day of Pentecost when the 
Holy Ghost came down to dwell with the Church. 

What the Church tells me is unerring truth, because 



420 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

it came from God. God speaking through and by the 
Church. 

If the Church is divine, this must be so ; to submit 
is to obey not man but God. He has founded her 
( the Church ) and " Heaven and earth shall pass 
away but not a jot of God's word shall pass away." 

Protestants found their dogma on private judg- 
ment as their liberty. Catholics believe that God has 
spoken (through the Church) and believe without hesi- 
tation. If there be a Church of God upon earth, that 
Church must be supernaturally protected from error. 

But there can be but one infallible Church, the 
Catholic. 

If the Church is the Church of God, it can never 
become foul and corrupt. 

The Catholics say their Church came from God and 
cannot err. 

For God is ever with the Church. 

Heresy is the practical denial of infallibility. It 
is choosing one's own faith instead of receiving with- 
out reservation the faith of the Church. 

The Church is the interpreter of the word to him 
that believe th. 

The Protestants do not found their interpretations 
of the Scriptures upon antiquity. 

Catholics believe in the invocation of the Saints 
reigning in glory. 

1st. The Church is one. 2d. The true Catholic 
Church. 3d. It's Holy. 4th. Apostolic. 

THE PRIMACY OR PAPACY 

St. Peter fixed his Apostolical or Episcopal chair 
at Rome, and the succession of the Apostolical 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 421 

Bishops necessarily followed by the Bishops or Popes 
who succeeded St. Peter. 

St. Peter lived twenty-five years at Rome, ordained 
his Apostolical Bishops there and died there, by mar- 
tyrdom. 

St. Peter appointed his successor at Rome, governed 
the Church and died there. In the reign of Claudius 
he went to Rome, the metropolis, and suffered there as 
a martyr for twenty-five years. 

Protestants contend that the supremacy of the 
Holy See grew upon the Church from small begin- 
nings. This the Catholics deny. They assert that 
the primacy was both claimed and exercised from the 
first. 

The first three centuries the Catholic Church at 
Rome was working among pagans, by a sort of under- 
ground railway; but in the 4th and 5th centuries 
they claim the supremacy was what it is now. 

The Popes claim their authority which was inher- 
ent with their office as having been transmitted by 
their predecessors from the Apostle (Peter) to 
whom Christ gave the keys and gave charge of the 
flock. 

The primacy (authority over the other churches) 
was from the first asserted by the Popes and acknowl- 
edged by all the other churches. 

At the close of the 4th and beginning of the 5th 
century, the primacy of the Church of Rome was 
acknowledged by all the Christian Churches all over 
the world, never instituted by council or coercion, but 
acknowledged. 

No council ever pretended to be oecumenical, with- 
out the Pope's authority. 



422 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

The Fathers have ever given their allegiance to 
the one central See of Rome, the successor of St. 
Peter. 

The Popes have ever believed their authority was 
supreme, and derived from St. Peter. 

If it be said that the papal authority has been 
denied from the first, it is answered that it has been 
asserted from the first. 

1st. That Christ built his Church upon St. Peter. 

2d. St. Peter was Bishop of Rome. 

3d. St, Leo acted as St. Peter's successor. 

4th. That the whole Church acknowledged his su- 
premacy. 

It is admitted that the Church history of the 2d 
and 3d centuries is a total blank. 

PRIMACY AND INFALLIBILITY 

That the Church must have a visible head is evi- 
dent. That head of the Church must be the chief 
teacher, Doctor of the Church. The head must have 
unity, " for the unity of the Church, it is necessary 
that all the faithful agree in faith." In questions of 
faith, people will differ. " Now the Church would 
be divided by a diversity of opinions, unless it were 
preserved in unity by the sentence of one." Infall- 
ibility in the Church is synonymous to sovereignty 
in civil government. It simply denotes that high 
power which must be obeyed. As the Church is di- 
vinely commissioned, it must be divinely protected 
from error and its teachings infallible. When the 
Church speaks by its head, by virtue of his office he 
must be obeyed. Infallibility is one thing and in- 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 423 

spiration another. Infallible to decide all questions 
of faith and morals. There have been a few wicked 
Popes, but the office of the Church is to preserve it 
inviolate. 

O. J. H. 



GOETHE'S TRAGEDY OF "FAUST," TRANS- 
LATED BY BAYARD TAYLOR 

The three archangels, Raphael, Gabriel and Michael. Mephis- 
topheles personates or represents the devil. This tragedy was 
written about 1790. 

MAN has a gleam of heavenly light, which he calls 
reason. 
Man, a legged grasshopper, a prying philosopher, 
drops among the grass and sticks his nose in every 
bit of dung he meets. 

Scene I. Part I. 

Faust is a learned Doctor of Medicine, and of learn- 
ing generally. Finds no more to learn of science, is 
tired of the world and seeks magic, calls on a spirit 
who answers him. He finds a book on magic, opens 
it and finds the sign of the Macrocosm (sign of the 
universe) and sign of the earth. 

He meets with " Wagner " a pedantic, speculative 
philosopher of learning but vain and a pretender. 

Faust. We dread the blows we never feel. 

Wagner tries to make a man by chemical com- 
pounds, gets him in a vial. He speaks and moves 
and wishes to be out of the vial, but cannot break it. 
His name is Hemenculus. 

Scene II. Part I. 
This scene represents Goethe's ideal of human na- 
ture, with his own thoughts and reflections of human 
life. 

424 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 425 

Faust goes out of the City of Leipzig in Germany 
on Easter Sunday to a country scene where are col- 
lected the young and old of the city for amuse- 
ment and amuses himself by observing what they say 
and do. He notices a black poodle dog following 
him. The dog makes uncanny circles around Faust 
and Faust sees fire following in his trail. The dog 
follows him into the city and to his room in a high 
Gothic hall, becomes noisy and finally settles on a 
cushion behind the stove, soon changes to a rhinoceros, 
then to an elephant, then to a student traveler who 
takes the name of Mephistopheles (really the devil). 

Scene III. Part I. 

Faust and the devil become acquainted and the 
devil promises to serve Faust while Faust lives and 
do everything Faust requires of him and after Faust's 
death he is to serve the devil. Faust signs the con- 
tract or deed written in his own blood. 

" In each soul is born the pleasure, of yearning 
upward, onward, away." 

Faust. " If a magic mantle once were mine, to 
waft me o'er the world of pleasure." 

Faust. " One yearns the rivers of existence, the 
very fonts of life to reach." 

Faust. " Man despises what he cannot compre- 
hend." 

Faust. "The one unoriginate." 

Devil. " That damned stuff, the bestial human 
brood. What use in having that to play with." 

Meph. " Thy nerves of touch ecstatic glow." 

Faust. " And all of life for all mankind created 
shall be within mine inmost being tested." 



426 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

Faust. " I feel indeed that I have made the treas- 
ure of human thought and human knowledge in vain." 

Scene V. Part I. 
Faust and Mephistopheles go to a students' carousal 
at a wine cellar in Leipzig. The students sit around 
a table. The devil bores holes with a gimlet through 
the table opposite each student. The holes are 
plugged up with wax stoppers, each student told to 
name the kind of wine of which he is most fond, 
as Malaga, Rhenish, etc., and draw and fill their 
glasses, but to be careful to not spill the wine. 
They draw the wine and drink and relish it, sing and 
carouse until one spills the wine. It burns and sets 
things on fire. Mephistopheles by magic puts out 
the fire and the students attack Mephistopheles for a 
conjurer, get into a melee and Faust and Mephis- 
topheles make their escape. The students get drunk 
and each one fancies he sees very beautiful objects. 

Scene VI. Part I. 
The Witch's Caldron. 

On a low hearth stands a caldron, a fire burning 
under it. Various figures appear in the vapor. An 
ape sits beside it, stirs and skims it and watches to 
see that it does not boil over. The ape sits by with 
young ones warming themselves ; the walls are covered 
with witch implements. 

Faust demands assistance from an old hag witch. 
" And will her foul mess take away thirty years of 
my existence? " (i. e., he wants to be thirty years 
younger). 

The caldron scene. Faust looks into a mirror on 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 427 

the wall and sees the form of a most beautiful woman 
which he longs to possess. The old ape neglects to 
stir in the pot. It boils over and a great fire is kin- 
dled. The fire burns an old witch up in the chimney. 
She comes down and scolds severely. The witch 
recognizes Mephistopheles and acknowledges him her 
master. 

Mephistopheles. " Culture which smoothes the 
whole world licks, also to the devil sticks." 

The witch misses the devil's cloven foot. He re- 
plies that he " has worn false calves these many 
years." The witch makes a magic circle and puts 
fantastic implements in it and some glasses. The 
glasses ring. She invites Faust to enter the circle. 
Faust enters the circle. The witch declaims from a 
large book placed on the apes for a reading desk. 
Wine is called for. The witch brings some of her 
own. Faust drinks. It burns. The witch says to 
Faust, " Art thou with the devil hand and glove and 
yet afraid of fire? " " It will warm your heart with 
desire." The witch breaks the circle and Faust steps 
out. Mephistopheles says, " Thou'lt find this drink 
thy blood impelling, each woman beautiful as Helen." 
Faust passes into the street and meets Margaret and 
falls in love with her and she with him. 

Scene VIII. Part I. 

Faust visits Margaret at her mother's residence 
(a widow) , finds her braiding her hair, finds the room 
in exact order, is much pleased with her. He stealth- 
ily places in her closet a rich casket of jewelry, dia- 
mond rings, pins, bracelets, strings of pearls, earrings, 
etc. On Margaret's going to the closet, she finds 



428 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

them, is enraptured over them. Her mother finds it 
out and suspects them sinful, sends for the priest who 
confiscates them to the Church. Faust and Mar- 
garet spend the next evening at the garden of Martha 
who acts as a go-between. Faust furnishes another 
casket of jewelry. Margaret tells Faust if it were 
not for her mother's wakeful watchfulness she would 
leave her bedroom door bolt unclosed and he might 
enter. Faust gives Margaret something in a vial 
and tells her to put three drops of it in her mother's 
drink and she would sleep sound all night. Mar- 
garet does so and Faust goes into Margaret's bed- 
room and stays all night. There she says of Faust, 
" He lay on her breast and smothered her with kisses." 
It is an ancient German custom on the marriage of 
a chaste young woman for the neighbors to present 
her the next morning with a myrtle fillet or wreath 
for her hair, but if she has not been virtuous before 
marriage, to sprinkle cut straw around the street 
door. The next morning Margaret's brother Valen- 
tine, a young soldier, returned from the army and 
found the cut straw at Margaret's door, found who 
was her paramour and on meeting Faust and Mephis- 
topheles at the door tried to kill Faust, but the devil 
helping Faust, Valentine is killed and Faust and 
Mephistopheles escape. 

Scene XIV. 
Faust in a Forest and Cavern. (Solus.) 
" Spirit sublime, thou gavest me nature as a king- 
dom grand, with the power to feel and to enjoy it." 

" From every precipice I see the silvery phantoms 
of the ages past." 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 429 

Scene XXI. 
Walpurgis Night. 

A German legend is that on the night between the 
last day of April and the first day of May, the witches 
have a festival or carousal on top of the Harz Moun- 
tain at the Brockenfels in Germany. Mephistopheles 
and Faust go there next. The night is dark and 
Mephistopheles calls out the Will-o'-the- Wisps to light 
them up. 

" The mountain is magic mad to-night " and they 
are in the hand of dreams enchanted. As they go up, 
the trees keep pace with them and troop along beside 
them. They hear the fairy and plover scream, the 
bloated salamander creeping in bushes rubs against 
their ankles, thousands of mice are flying in herds of 
thousand colors. The fireflies wink and darken, the 
rocks show a blaze of light, and everything has fine 
tints creeping over all. This the Mountain of Mam- 
guon. An old witch comes riding on a farrow sow. 

" When towards the devil's house we tread, woman's 
a thousand steps ahead." 

" But howso'er she hasten may, man in one leap 
has cleared the way." 

Motley flames are seen among the heather. The 
young witches are in a nude state, the old ones are 
veiled shrewdly. A hundred fires are burning. They 
dance, they chat, cook, drink and court, and have fine 
sport. They sit around the dying embers; an old 
huckster woman offers her wares for sale, but says 
nothing she offers but was ill got and was used for 
some wicked purpose, as the silver goblet was used 



430 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

to poison some person who took wine from it, the 
poniard to murder someone, the diamond hilted sword 
to kill someone. So of all the rest. The gems were 
used as a gift to bring some maid to shame. 

They meet there " Lilith," who, according to the 
Jewish Talmud, was Adam's first wife. Her children 
were all devils. Adam and she quarreled and they 
separated. When first formed they were united to- 
gether at the back and neck, but broke from each 
other. After they parted, Adam took another wife, 
Eve. 

Faust dances with a young witch. Mephistopheles 
dances with an old one. In the midst of the dance, 
a red mouse jumps from the mouth of the young 
witch. Faust is disgusted. She changes to Medusa 
and carries her head under her arm, a scarlet ring- 
like thread around her throat (where Perseus had 
cut off her head ) and has a stony look. 

Lilith was also a seductress and seduced young 
men, but after they fell in love with her they soon 
died and one of her golden hairs was always found 
wound about his heart, She had beautiful meshes of 
hair by which she seduced her lovers. 

Oberon and Titania's Golden Wedding. 
(Fairies or Sprites.) 

" Misty vale and mountain gray, that was all the 
scenery." 

Orchestra. " Snout of fly, mosquito, bill and kin 
of all conditions; 

Frog in grass and cricket-trill, these are the musi- 
cians." 

The sprites dancing " go on foot no more we can, 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 431 

and on our heads we go them." They have the will- 
o'-the-wisps and shooting stars among them. 
The witch's carnival closes. 

Scene XXIII. 

A dreary day. Mephistopheles and Faust in a 
field. Faust discovers that Margaret is in a crim- 
inal's prison or dungeon. They mount black horses 
and speed to the city. The devil gives Faust false 
keys. He enters the dungeon and liberates Margaret. 
She follows him to the fields and is freed. She either 
did or imagined she had murdered her mother and 
child. 

Part II. Scene I. 

A pleasant landscape. Faust bedded on a turf of 
flowers, tries to sleep. Circles of diminutive figures 
hover over him, spirits graceful in motion, each one 
makes a speech. 

Scene II. 

Emperor's castle. Courtiers and state ministers 
in full dress and astrologer. Each one makes a 
speech before the throne. Each one discloses some 
great want of the kingdom and emperor. The main 
want is money. Mephistopheles is selected by the 
emperor to fill the king's fool's place. Mephistoph- 
eles tells how to find money, in pots underground, 
left there by the old Romans in their wars and says 
Faust will find a way to raise the pots by magic or 
learning. Before the pots are to be raised, they have 
a carnival. 



432 LIFE AND WOKKS OF 

Masquerade. The Astrologers. 

They divided the celestial hemisphere into twelve 
parts called houses. In casting a horoscope, or find- 
ing the nativity and giving the destiny of the child 
just born, they required first the day and hour of 
birth and the latitude and longitude of the place of 
birth. The location of the sun, moon, planets, then 
the places of the signs of the Zodiac in the different 
houses was ascertained. As each house represented 
a different interest or passion and each planet a spe- 
cial controlling force, the various combinations which 
thus arose furnished the material out of which the 
horologue was constructed. The seven metals to 
which the alchemists attached the names of the seven 
planets, viz : the sun is gold, the moon silver, Mercury 
quicksilver, Venus copper, Mars iron, Jupiter tin, 
Saturn, lead. 

Article I. Part II. 

The Carnival Masquerade. 

The garden girls on the stage. The gardeners. 
The wood cutters. The Grecian girls. The graces 
(Grecian mythology), with Hope, Fear and Prudence. 
Each one has his say. A four horse chariot is driven 
to the crowd. Plutus, the god of wealth, seated in 
the chariot. It is driven by a boy charioteer. He is 
given a wand by Faust and he fillips his fingers to- 
ward the crowd, and lots of gems, pearls, necklaces, 
rings and jewelry fall among the crowd, who seize 
them and gaze astonished at them in their hands but 
soon the necklaces and bracelets change to beetles 
and the gems to butterflies. The beetles crawl over 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 433 

their hands and faces and buzz around their ears. 
The butterflies fly away. Plutus then orders the 
giants to bring in the iron chest and opens it with his 
wand. The people gaze into the chest and see all 
sorts of gold and silver coin with gems, goblets and 
vases boiling in fire in the chest. The wand touches 
it and is set on fire, which spreads all around. The 
crowd disperses in alarm. To compensate for their 
loss of the treasure in the chest, the emperor gives a 
one thousand paper note to pay the holder from the 
first pot of treasure taken from the earth. Faust is 
to raise the treasure. The emperor's treasurer dupli- 
cates this note and each person has one given him. 
These notes pass for money. Everybody takes them 
and all are rich. The butcher, the baker, the mer- 
chant, the banker, all take them and give coin in ex- 
change. Everybody is made happy and the scene 
closes. 

This scene is by some assigned as the origin of 
paper money. 

* Next Scene. 

A Gloomy Gallery. 

The emperor requires to see Helen and Paris, the 
aesthetic idea of Grecian perfection and beauty. 
Mephistopheles gives Faust a trident and a key 
( magic ) . Faust is to go to the " Mothers/' for them 
in Hades. He stamps his foot three times and dis- 
appears underground. After a while Faust returns 
and soon Paris or his specter is seen on the stage, a 
form of manly beauty. Then Helen appears in all her 
ideal loveliness. Faust is enraptured and resolves to 



434 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

gain her to himself. He uses the key and keeps Paris 
away and seizes Helen and forcibly carries her away, 
takes her to a castle, marries her and lives with her a 
year. She has a son, the child dies. Not long after, 
Helen, while sitting on the piazza with Faust, disap- 
pears in the air and leaves Faust alone, only leaving 
her mantle. Faust proposes to use the mantle for his 
support and fly all over the world, but does not. 

Next Scene. 

Faust, Mephistopheles and Wagner mount each a 
black winged horse and fly across the iEgian Sea to 
Greece. They visit the plains of Pharsalia, Olympus, 
Parnassus and elsewhere. They meet Thales, the old 
Greek philosopher, and converse with him. They 
next go to the sea, meet with all the strange mytho- 
logical beings of ancient Greece, the sphinx, the 
satyrs, Cyclops, gnomes, etc., etc., and have something 
to say to each. Monunculus goes with them and 
rides on a sea dolphin, but never can break his vial. 
They see the satyrs, etc., riding on Neptune's sea 
horses, bulls, etc., and finally return to Germany and 
Faust goes to his old Gothic hall chamber and meets 
his old acquaintances, etc. 

Last Scene. 

Faust retires again to his castle, lives as an em- 
peror, becomes afraid of insecurity, sets armies of 
horsemen marching around at a distance, orders the 
Lemures to dig a moat around the castle. They act 
tardily. There come to his castle three old gray- 
haired women. They are Crime or Guilt, Care and 
Want. They annoy him. He seeks to drive Want 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 435 

away. In going, she breathes in his face. He be- 
comes instantly stone blind and has to be led about. 
He appoints an overseer for digging the moat and 
goes out once a day to hear the report of its progress. 
The Lemur es are really digging Faust's grave. When 
it is done, Faust dies. The devil sits by watching the 
burial, watching to take Faust's soul, as a cat would 
watch a mouse. Spirit angels are hovering around 
above the grave and bear off through the air to heaven 
Faust's immortal part. Satan is mortified and vexed. 
Faust goes to heaven and there meets Margaret who 
had become a penitent and been forgiven. Faust and 
Margaret are left in Paradise. The poem closes. 

Mephistopheles' description of hell, see Part II, 
pages 408409. 

The angels in Paradise, see a few pages beyond. 



BRIEF EXTRACTS FROM " SCIENCE AND 
THE BIBLE" 

By Rev. Herbert W. Morris of Rochester, N. Y., 1871 

THE SIX DAYS OF CREATION 

IN the beginning God created the Heaven and the 
Earth. 

1st day. He created light, and divided light from 
darkness. 

2d day. He divided the waters from the water and 
called the firmament heaven. 

3d day. He gathered the waters together and made 
dry land to appear. The dry land he 
called earth and the waters seas, and 
said, " Let the earth bring forth grass, 
herbs and trees yielding fruit," and the 
earth brought forth grass, herbs, and 
trees yielding fruit. 

4th day. He created the sun, moon and stars. 

5th day. He made the fishes and creatures in the 
sea and the fowls and said, " Let the 
fishes, etc., in the sea and the fowls mul- 
tiply." 

6th day. He said, " Let the cattle and every living 
thing bring forth after its kind" and 
he made the beast of the field and every 
creeping thing. And lastly, he made 
man " after our own image, after our 
likeness," male and female, made he 

436 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 437 

them, and told them to multiply and re- 
plenish the earth. Bible. 
" God created the world from nothing." 

SYLLOGISM 

" Order, design, and adaptation of means to ends, 
universally prove the agency of intelligence. The 
earth and its productions everywhere abound with in- 
stances of order, design and adaptation. Therefore, 
the earth and its productions must be the work of an 
intelligent Being, and consequently, must have had a 
beginning." 

Nothing in the earth is found to be simple or un- 
compounded. 

There are fifty-four simple elementary substances 
in the works of nature. (Modern chemists make the 
number of elementary bodies to be sixty -two by add- 
ing some newly discovered metals; forty-seven are 
metallic and the balance non-metallic.) 

Nature exists and matter is formed by combina- 
tions of its elements; these combinations are uni- 
formly in exact proportions. This proves design and 
not chance. Also, all particles of matter are exact 
in their forms. This proves design. 

The formation of molecules of matter is artificial, 
shows design and skill, and therefore not eternal, but 
must have been a beginning. [And a cause for that 
beginning, viz., God. O. J. H.] 

Therefore, the pantheistic theory of an " Eternal 
nature " and not an eternal God cannot be true. 

Compounded matter, as rock, soil, trees, animals, 
is composed of compounded simple material. The 
simple must have been first or primary. Hence the 



438 LIFE AND WOKKS OF 

rocks, trees, etc., must have had a beginning and not 
eternal. 

All the ancient schools of philosophers, Plato, Epi- 
curus, etc., held that matter was eternal. 

The sacred historian in passing from the things 
described in the first verse to the things described in 
the second verse, passes over a period of infinite and 
perhaps incalculable length. 

" In the Beginning.'' " Between that period and 
the creation of man, millions of years and perhaps 
millions of ages may have elapsed." 

Some think that before the world was created, mat- 
ter existed in a most attenuated form and floated in 
space as a vast cloud and was molded into form by 
gravitation and chemical aggregation until it became 
a sphere. 

We have strong evidence to believe that at a later 
period the earth existed in a melted state and has 
been slowly cooling ever since. 

That such a state of things actually existed seems 
to be plainly indicated by the igneous character of 
the primitive rocks; by the tropical climate that for- 
merly pervaded in high latitude and by the present 
internal heat of the globe. 

In this transition period, great convulsions in the 
globe took place. Molten rocks were thrown from 
the deep to the surface and others sank to the bot- 
tom. Constant vapors or rains fell and the earth 
underwent a wonderful change. The plains of the 
sea were raised to mountains and the then mountains 
sank to the bottom. 

In these changes, perhaps by vast periods of time, 
the rocks were worn down by the rains and became 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 439 

soil and vegetation began. Periods of vegetation 
came and finally passed away and other kinds and pe- 
riods of vegetation appeared, lived their time and 
passed away and were succeeded by another variety. 
In like manner, the animal creations were formed, 
lived their period of time and passed away to be re- 
newed by other species and varieties. 

In this way the face of the earth was renewed and 
destroyed, peopled and re-peopled (by animals and 
vegetables) times without number. For ages and 
cycles of ages it ( the earth ) passed through alternate 
periods of upheavals and disruptions of formation and 
repose. Different tribes and races of animals lived 
and disappeared, changed until the Adamic period 
came. 

Before the Adamic period, every living species of 
animal life had passed away except fishes and rep- 
tiles. 

No animals but only insects in the cool period. 

Down to the last of the Post-Tertiary deposits, there 
is no fossil evidence that any plant bearing oil bread 
(cereals) or perfumes existed. 

That the vast changes have taken place is estab- 
lished by evidence entirely convincing to a well-in- 
formed mind. But no proof exists of the period of 
time occupied by those changes. Whether they occu- 
pied ages or thousands or millions of ages, we cannot 
tell. 

" The earth was without form and void." This de- 
scribes the condition of our earth prior to the com- 
mencement of the Adamic period. 

At the great deluge, it is not supposed that all life 
in the waters was extinct. 



440 LIFE AND WORKS OF 



MEAN LEVEL OF THE CONTINENTS ABOVE THE OCEAN 

LEVEL 

By Humboldt. 

Europe, 671 feet; Asia, 1151 feet; North Amer- 
ica, 748 feet; South America, 1132 feet; mean level 
of all the continents, 1008 feet. Australia, 500 
feet. 

THE CHAOTIC PERIOD 

The earth underwent great changes about the begin- 
ning of the human age. A tropical temperature pre- 
vailed in northern latitudes and there had been a 
general extinction of the animal species belonging to 
the old world. 

When the dry land was made to appear, great sub- 
sidences of the water took place. Geologists agree 
to this. 

One of the general laws established by geology is 
" that at the close of long epochs, there were nearly 
universal extinctions followed by abundant creations 
(animal life) ; there was at the beginning of the 
human period a magnificent creation both of plants 
and animals." This is settled by the best geological 
evidence of facts. 

THE SIX DAYS OF CREATION 

The globe having been thrown into a state of con- 
fusion and desolation and the plants and animals of 
the former epoch having been destroyed by the chaos, 
as described in the second verse, it pleased the Creator 
to occupy six successive days to restore and furnish 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 441 

it as the dwelling-place of man whom he was abont 
to make in his own image. 

The theory has been advanced that these days are 
not literal days, but immensely long periods. 

We regard the great facts of geology as being es- 
tablished by proofs second only to the mathematical 
demonstrations of astronomy. 

This interpretation does not appear to us plain and 
fair dealing with the word of God. 

We believe that it means literal and natural day, 
for these reasons. 

The language of the Bible is plain, " there was a 
first day, a second day, a third day, etc," " with a defi- 
nite evening and morning." 

Moses meant his readers should understand it so. 
God refers to them as literal days in requiring the 
seventh to be kept holy. 

. . . Great periods were periods of creation, vast 
periods. The earth previous to the creation period 
was a vast watery waste of chaos. Such a creation as 
Moses describes must have followed, for the present 
race of plants and animals must have been produced 
since. Geologists lay it down that the present race of 
"Flora and Fauna" (for the most part) existed at 
the commencement of the present human period. 

As the human family was produced from a single 
pair, Adam and Eve, so it is fair to infer that animals, 
birds and plants spread from single pairs or speci- 
mens. 

We regard the six days of creation as literal days, 
yet they may have been designed to stand as repre- 
sentatives of preceding work, done through the pre- 



442 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

ceding history of our globe, or it may have been the 
Divine intention to symbolize (by these six days) all 
the works done by his hand that had gone before on 
the earth. 

Twenty-seven times, says D'Orbingy, have distinct 
creations repeopled the earth with plants and animals. 

Light is the very life blood of nature. Without it 
every material organization would perish. Without 
light, no vegetables, plants or seed could exist. 

By the firmament we understand not the heavens, 
but the vapor, etc., by which the earth is surrounded. 

The atmosphere above us is like an ocean or sea, 
and we live at the bottom of this ocean of atmosphere 
like crabs and lobsters in the sea. 

The atmosphere of the earth is estimated at forty- 
five miles high. 

At eight miles above us, it is supposed that no man 
could breathe, and at fifty miles above us, the mercury 
would be one hundred thirty-two degrees below zero. 

The pressure of atmosphere on a common sized man 
is about fourteen tons, or fourteen and three-fifths 
pounds to a square inch. 

Without the atmosphere, the sky would be black as 
a berry and the sun like a red hot ball. 

The earth covers one hundred ninety-seven millions 
of square miles of surface; one hundred forty-five 
million miles are covered with water and but fifty- 
two million miles are dry land. 

COAL THEORY 

In the carbonaceous period, a dense vegetable and 
timber region covered the earth. The great rains that 
fell submerged it and washed it away. It floated to 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 443 

the bottom of the seas and gulfs and was so emersed 
until it became eoal. When the waters subsided the 
internal fires raised the earth's crust and elevated 
mountains and brought the coal to dry lands. 

Sir I. Newton decided that the quickest line for a 
body to fall to the earth was not a straight but a 
curved or cycloidal line. 

That the earth's crust has upheaved is inferred from 
the indentations of chasms in mountains, one hundred 
feet wide and very deep, in which the sides of the 
rock layer are correspondingly included at both sides. 

Some species of whales live on vegetables growing 
on the bottom of the sea. Others on small fishes 
which they take in their mouths by whole schools at a 
mouthful and a whale's mouth could take in a boat 
and crew. 

A roe of a codfish is estimated to contain 3,686,000 
eggs, a mackerel, 500,000, a herring, 20,000 to 30,000 
eggs. If a pair of herrings were undisturbed for 
twenty years, they would produce a pile as large as 
the earth. 

Said to be 100,000 different kinds of plants in the 
world. 

Sept, 21, 1871. Notes, O. J. H. 



RHETORIC 

By Henry Coppee, A.M., 1865. Professor in Pennsylvania Uni- 
versity. Written August, 1868. 

A REVIEW 

RHETORIC is the art of constructing and apply* 
ing discourse. 

It was cultivated in Greece, because commonwealths 
were swayed by eloquence. 

It was first cultivated in Greece, and afterwards 
molded by Roman oratory. 

It was banished in Greece by the logic of philosophy 
but revived in the 15th century with the Grecian 
classics. 

It flourished in Demosthenes' and Aristotle's time, 
when people journeyed from all parts of Greece to 
hear Demosthenes before the judges of the Areopagus 
or bar. 

It gave a great impulse to a love of liberty in Greece. 

At the Olympic and Pythian games, philosophers, 
sophists and poets read their compositions and prizes 
were awarded them. 

Aristotle defined rhetoric the power of persuasion, 
meaning conviction. (Chapter 2.) The speaker ad- 
dresses, the reason is to convince ; the imagination is to 
please and fascinate the mind ; it touches the passions 
to create sympathy and combines them all to influence 
the will, or convince. 

444 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 445 

Arrangement or disposition of the speech. Ar- 
rangement is the strategy of the orator, style, his elo- 
cution or manner of expression. 

Thus he uses .arrangement, invention and dispo- 
sition or elocution. 

(Chapter 3.) Among the fine arts are classed 
printing, sculpture and poetry. 

^Esthetics means the science of the beautiful, or the 
philosophy of taste. Thus beauty pervades all arts 
and breathes upon all forms of existence. 

Rhetoric as one of the fine arts has the beauty of 
expression and may be styled the cesthetics of lan- 
guage. 

The objective means that which really belongs to 
the object itself. Subjective means the manner in 
which the subject or individual conceives that object. 
The subject is the thinker, the object, the thing 
thought about. 

The objective painter shows things as they exist, 
the subjective writer shows us his impression of those 
things. 

Taste is the author's own idea of the grandeur, 
beauty or sublimity of an object and is either natural 
or by cultivation. 

Imagination from the Latin imago, an image, is 
the power of endowing substance with qualities they 
do not possess. It differs from fancy. 

Taste is the faculty by which we discern the beau- 
ties of nature and art. 

The capability of being pleased or pained by view- 
ing an object in nature is termed sensibility. 

Since all men have the same right of judgment of 
taste, there can be no fixed standard. 



446 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

The only general standard is that of well ordered 
and cultivated minds. 

A refined taste sees beauty or defect more readily 
and with keener perceptions. 

Philosophical taste is based upon beauty and adap- 
tation forming the true judgment. 

Genius is the birthright power of executing great 
things in art and science. 

Genius is from the Latin gigno, to be born. 

Talent imitates and combines what genius or nature 
has created. 

Taste is the critical power to discern the beauties 
of nature and art. 

Literature combines those branches which come 
within the scope of rhetorical taste, as history, nar- 
rative, prose fiction, poetry, epistolary correspond- 
ence. Literature from the Latin Litterce (thoughts 
expressed by letters). 

Science lays down and illustrates the principles 
of knowledge. 

Rhetorical taste has to do with the works of the 
imagination. 

Beauty is that ideal quality which gives pleas- 
ure to the senses, the eye, the ear, as color, form, 
sound, motion. In its extended form, it gives 
pleasure to the intellect, the imagination, the con- 
science. 

Beauty of thought — we may feel more than we can 
express, as the beauty of the sky, the ocean, etc. 

Beauty in thought does not express strong but 
placid emotions. 

Beauty in writing is smooth, harmonious, graceful, 
flowing. 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 447 

Beauty joined with sadness gives an emotion of 
pleasure. Joined to melancholy, we have pathos. 

Beauty of invention and language clothes an object 
or its picture in a soft and dewy light and gives har- 
mony and pleasure. 

Grandeur in thought implies expansion of senti- 
ment. 

Sublime in thought is elevation of thought as well 
as diction. 

Sublimity in discourse is more vehement and violent 
in the emotions and it creates in them beauty. (As 
a rule beauty more than sublimity is the natural char- 
acteristic of a woman's mind.) 

The sublime in writing has more in the thought than 
in the language. 

Novelty expresses that which is new, sudden, un- 
expected, by which the mind is thrown into a pleasant 
state of excitement. Generally it is transient and 
when once passed over never returns by the same ob- 
ject. 

Taste may be arranged as beauty, sublimity, and 
novelty. 

Sublimity is often coupled with the idea of terror. 

Wit, from " wissen," to know (German), is the com- 
bination of known ideas in so new, sprightly and 
natural a manner as to give surprise and pleasure to 
the hearer. It consists mainly in the combination of 
thought. 

It may consist of turning a thing or subject into 
the ludicrous, or by rendering things truly frivolous 
into the dignified as the mock heroic, or by combining 
common things in so new a form as to excite surprise 
and pleasure. 



448 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

Humor unites ideas in so fantastic a manner as to 
arouse our mirth by their communion. 

Wit combined with human sympathy is true humor 
and is a more distinguishing mark of genius than the 
most brilliant wit. 

Irony expresses the opposite of what we mean and 
places the opposite side in the position of the ridicu- 
lous. 

Butler's Hudibras was a satire on the Puritans. 
Lamb was a humorist and so was Hood. Sydney 
Smith a wit. Irving a great humorist. 

Rhetoric presupposes a study of the best standard 
works and speakers. 

(Chapter 4.) Poetry is metrical composition and 
the language of the imagination and true sentiment, 
the power to feel and enjoy it differs from the power 
to express it. 

Its object is to please and refine the mind and ex- 
pand the affections. 

It creates new worlds of fancy and peoples them 
with its denizens. 

It throws its painted glories on the common things 
of life — it implies a sensibility keenly alive to the 
beautiful and the sublime. 

Epic Poetry is the narrative heroic, as Homer's 
Iliad and Odyssey. 

Lyric Poetry is designed to be accompanied by 
music, as the song, the hymn. 

An ode is one form of lyric poetry and may be said 
or sung. 

An Elegy is a mournful and plaintive song. 

Pastoral Poetry relates to the shepherds or to hus- 
bandry. 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 449 

An Eclogue is a poem, pastoral in dialogue. 

An Idyl is a pastoral poem and describes primitive 
country life. 

Dramatic Poetry represents persons acting on the 
stage and is tragic or comic. 

A tragic poem terminates the scene fatally to one 
or more of the persons represented. 

The Comic is composed of wit, humor and ridicule 
designed for amusement. 

The Melodrama is a dialogue diversified by occa- 
sional songs. 

The Opera is entirely sung. 

Didactic and Descriptive Poetry is meant for direct 
instruction, as an essay. 

Satirical Poetry is meant to ridicule or satirize and 
should be sparingly used. 

(Chapter 5.) Oratory is the power of spoken dis- 
course, by kindling the eye, modulations of the voice, 
gestures of the hand and arms, tension of the nerves 
and whole action of the man and by placing, as it 
were, his whole soul in magnetic contact with the 
hearer, to persuade. 

It is divided into academic, political and sacred and 
judicial, or 

It can best be acquired by training, as you would 
drill troops. 

Elocution means the cultivation of the voice and 
manner of action. 

Some say oratory or eloquence is entirely a natural 
gift, but history proves quite the contrary. 

1st, be clear. 2d, be natural. 3d, not timid. Let 
the action be suited to the word. Be earnest. 
( Be truthful and concise. ) 



450 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

Oration from the Latin oro, to pray. 

A Disquisition is a formal inquiry into a given sub- 
ject. 

A Thesis is a set paper upon some given subject. 

Political Oration is mainly debate. It should not 
be barely to triumph over the adversary, but to attain 
truth. 

Homily, & sermon of a plainer, humbler kind. 

Paul's sermon on Mars Hill at Athens excels 
Demosthenes. 

Prose fiction presents unreal things and persons as 
though they were real. 

A Romance is a story of wonderful adventures, 
founded in some degree on historical characters or 
incidents. 

A Novel is a work of fiction, founded mainly on the 
invention of the writer, sometimes on historic events 
or characters, nearly all fiction. 

A -Rhetorical Discourse is invention, arrangement, 
style, as to its parts. 

The object of a discourse is conviction, persuasion. 

Rhetoric demands that every proposition be proved. 

" Swear not at all " refers to profane swearing, not 
to legal oaths. 

An analogy is a comparison of like things or sem- 
blances. 

Parity of reason is analogy of reasoning. 

Experience furnishes us the strongest arguments 
in common life. 

What is new and untried has the presumption 
against it. 

But if presumptions are in favor of existing gov- 




THE HON. HENRY HAMLIN 
Surviving Son of Orlo Jay Hamlin 



OKLO JAY HAMLIN 451 

ernments then those who attack it should be required 
to adduce their proof. 

Character and position is a presumption in favor 
of the party who makes an assertion as of an ac- 
knowledged scientific man and the like. The pre- 
sumption is that his statement is right, the contrary 
should be proved, if attacked, — while the statement 
of a man who is not known to have character, the 
presumption is against him. 

A disciple owes to his master at least temporary 
belief and a suspension of judgment until his master's 
opinion is proven wrong. 

The reductio ad absurdum of geometry is an absurd 
proposition, as also the reductio ad impossible an 
impossibility. 

A proposition or statement may prove too much, as 
that because one man beats his wife, therefore all 
matrimony is to be convicted. 

Our arguments against an adversary should be 
fairly stated and to dwell too long in refuting a weak 
point is folly because by dwelling so long on it, it may 
seem that there is more in the point than there is 
really. 

Persuasion is the moving of the will, by moving 
the feelings through sympathy, the judgment, through 
reason or the passions, affections, etc. 

The will like all other faculties is the creature of 
habit and begets condition of a permanent nature 
from which even conviction cannot drive it. 

We should, therefore, cultivate the will in the di- 
rection of good actions. 

The feelings or sensibilities cannot be controlled by 



452 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

the will, neither our fear, love or anger, laughter or 
tears. 

The power of an orator depends much upon the 
character we entertain of him, whether he is honest, 
has talents and kind intentions towards us. 

An appeal to the feelings should come spontane- 
ously and unheralded, for if we know beforehand that 
our passions or sympathies are to be invoked, we often 
steel or shut the heart against the appeal and set our 
will against it. 

Parts of a discourse, exordium, narration, propo- 
sition, discussion and peroration, — exordium or 
proem. 

We should sweep away the objections of our adver- 
sary before we state our own propositions. 

At the conclusion is generally the place for persua- 
sion. 

The three unities, action, time and place — all of a 
particular act or action, or of time or place, should 
be connectedly stated while on that subject. 

By style is meant the mode or manner by which 
thought is expressed in language. 

Language was probably the immediate gift of God 
to man, as Adam was required to name every living 
creature. 

Pictures were the first attempt of man to express 
thought by writing. 

That plan has been called " Ideographic," next sym- 
bols or hieroglyphics. 

The Chinese have a word represented by a single 
character. 

The English alphabet comes from the Romans — 
the Romans get them from the Greeks — the name 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 453 

alphabet comes from the two Greek words " alpha 
beta." The Greeks brought them from Phoenicia by 
Cadmus. The old form of writing was from right to 
left and it is seen in the Hebrew ; the Greeks changed 
by writing alternately a line from right to left and 
then from left to right like a furrow. 

It is believed that the English has facilities for 
forcible and elegant expression equaled by no other 
language. 

The Orientals were diffuse and florid — the North 
American aborigines were terse and figurative drawn 
from nature. 

The " Baconian " style was simple and clear, the 
style of the Spectator was called Addisonian and was 
noted for learning, ease and elegance. 

The " Johnsonian " style was pompous and digni- 
fied. 

Buffon said that " style " was " the man himself." 

An oration may be in long flowing sentences, as the 
French call it " periodique " or in short, curt, pithy 
sentences. 

The qualities of style are perspicuity, energy and 
elegance. 

Perspicuity, clear, capable of being seen through. 

Purity is one of the elements of perspicuity. Words 
and idioms from foreign languages are opposed to 
purity of style. For to those who do not understand 
the foreign language, it will seem affectation or ped- 
antry. However, there are a few ideas that can be 
better expressed in a foreign language. Proper lan- 
guage is also a part of perspicuity. Avoid the vulgar, 
use no slang phrases. 

Precision belongs to the same style. 



454 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

Synonyms are words of precisely the same meaning 
or much resembling each other. 

A genus always comprehends the species, generic, 
a genus or original and specific; an individual class 
is a species of that genus. 

Precision demands that there be no ambiguity in 
a sentence. 

Perspicuity is destroyed by using a word twice in 
different senses. 

Energy is the characteristic of a speaker or writer 
who fixes the attention of the audience and presents 
his subject forcibly. 

In energy there is an expression of strength, which 
is the true secret of such an influence. 

In using proper terms, it is better to use a species 
than a genus, i. e., better to speak of an individual 
than a large number. 

A Trope means a term turned out of its proper sig- 
nificance and applied to another, as to call a statesman 
a " pillar of state." 

Where the figure resides in the words to express 
other things, they are called verbal figures, as " the 
laughing fields," " the waves dancing." 

The various kinds of figures of speech are — com- 
parison, metaphor, synecdoche, metonymy, hyperbole, 
personification, apostrophe, allegory, antithesis, ono- 
matopoeia, climax. 

Comparison or simile is the expression of a resem- 
blance between two or more objects. 

Metaphor is really a trope and consists in substi- 
tuting one word for another. 

Synecdoche is the using a part to express the whole, 
or the whole to express a part. It resides in words 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 455 

alone, as " the man is gray," " the ocean swarms with 
flies." 

Metonymy consists in placing one word for another, 
which does not define it, but to which it is related. 
Thus we speak of Homer, Milton, Virgil, when we 
mean their works. It is the interchange of names, 
having some connection. 

Hyperbole is expressing emotions or dimensions 
greater than they really are, exaggeration. 

Personification ascribes to inanimate objects the 
attributes of animate beings, or it invests with per- 
sonal dignity what was before impersonal. 

Apostrophe is the turning aside from the original 
discourse to address some person or object. 

An Allegory is saying one thing and meaning an- 
other ; as a figure it implies telling a story, the events 
of which are fictitious, but which in their illustration 
show something useful or important. The Saviour 
used many of them. In sacred writings, a " Par- 
able," in profane, a " Fable." 

Antithesis is the placing two or more objects con- 
traries, so that each is rendered more striking by 
the contrast, as " the wicked flee when no man pur- 
sueth." 

Onomatopoeia, making words to imitate sounds as 
" rat-tat-tat " for a drum, etc. 

Climax is the raising from a weak word to the 
strongest one. 

The reverse of this figure is called Anticlimax, 
falling from a strong word to a weak one. 

Elegance is necessary to good style. It is beauty 
and grace of expression ; it is the delicate structure of 
purism. 



456 LIFE AND WOEKS OF 

Fitness is a choice of appropriate words, a word to 
express the appropriate meaning. 

Euphony and Harmony, pleasant sounding words. 

Composition. In colleges students are first taught 
by beginning with translations. 

Sometimes they write paraphrases of other's compo- 
sitions. 

Conversation, no one should monopolize, as Dr. 
Johnson, Coleridge, and Macaulay did and become the 
flippant talker, the scientific talker or the gossip. 

All the rhetorical rules for discourse apply to con- 
versation. 

All slang phrases should be avoided. 

Elocution is the proper oral expression, or delivery 
of discourse. It consists of force, quality, pitch, time, 
abruptness. 

Force, loud or low, strong or weak. 

Quality, smooth or rough, harsh or melodious, musi- 
cal, etc. 

Time, short, long, quick, slow, rapid. 

Abruptness, sudden, explosive. 

Pitch, rise or fall. 

Articulation or enunciation. Uttering every word 
and part of a word so that it may be distinctly heard. 

At Rome, they speak with full metallic ring and 
open the mouth wider than northern people do. 

Inflection, rise or fall of the voice in an expression. 

Emphasis is the stress laid on a word or phrase and 
different from accent. 

Modulation is the adaptation of the voice to the 
varied nature of the discourse. Cicero used a pitch 
pipe to gauge his voice. 

Gesture is the acting out with the whole body what 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 457 

we are saying with the voice. It should say to the eye 
what the words say to the ear, but the hands are the 
" principal levers of oratory." They reckon or at- 
tract, repel, threaten, point to heaven. 

Nature is the first great teacher of elocution — 
artificial manners should be avoided; be natural, 
speak not too fast, but rather slow and distinct. 



EHETORIC 

By G. P. Quackenbos, A.M., 1861. 
POETICAL COMPOSITION 

POETRY is the language of the imagination and 
passion. 
A verse is a metrical line of a length and rhythm 
determined by the rules of usage. 
A hemistich is half a verse. 

A rhyme is the similarity of sound in the endings of 
words. 

A distich or couplet, two verses or lines, rhyming 
together. 

A triplet, three verses or lines rhyming together. 

A stanza, a regular division of a poem (as into 
verses). 

Syllables are long or short, one long syllable equal 
to two short ones. 

The macron is placed over the long and the breve 
over the short syllables. 

A foot is a division of verse consisting of two or 
three syllables. 

Dissyllabic feet, four in number. 

Iambus ^ — remove, Spondee dark night, 

Trochee — —^ moving Pyrrhic -^ — happify 

Trisyllabic feet, eight in number. 

458 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 459 

Anapert — — — intervene, 
Dactyl,— —— happily 

Amphibrach,— — — redundant, 
Amphimacer, — — — winding sheet, 

Bacchius w the dark night, 

Anti Bacchius, ^ eye servant, 

Molossus, long, d"ark, night, 

Tribrach ^ — w insuperable. 

The four dissyllabic feet are either pure or mixed, 
as Pure Iambic, Mixed Iambic, etc. 

Metre or measure is the system by which verses are 
formed. 

Monometre, a measure of one foot. 

Dimetre, a measure of two feet. 

Trimetre, a measure of three feet. 

Tetrametre, a measure of four feet. 

Pentametre, a measure of five feet. 

Hexametre, a measure of six feet. 

Heptametre, a measure of seven feet. 

Octometre, a measure of eight feet. 

If one syllable in a line is wanting, it is said to be 
catalectic. If one syllable too many, it is hypercata- 
lectic. 

Scanning is the process of dividing a line into the 
feet of which it is composed. 

Scanning is performed by pronouncing the syllables 
which compose the successive feet and after each men- 
tioning its name, thus, in scanning the fifth line the 
following words would be employed : 

"Honor (Trochee) and shame (iambus) from no 
(iambus) condi (iambus) tion rise (iambus)." 



460 



LIFE AND WORKS OF 



The line is mixed, iambic, pentametre, acatalectic. 
Iambic Measure. 

Foot 
Monometre. 1. Lochiel! 

Feet 
Dimetre, 2. The main !|| the main! 

Feet 
Trimetre, 3. For us||the sum||mers shine. 

Feet ^ _ w 

Tetrametre, 4. First stands || the no||ble Washpngton. 

Feet 
Pentametre, 5. Honor || and shame || from no||con di||tion 

rise. 
Feet 
Hexametre, 6. With his sharp pointed head he dealeth 

deadly wounds. 
Feet 
Heptametre, 7. Over the Alban mountains high, the light 

of morning broke. 
Feet 
Octometre, 8. O, all ye people, clap your hands and with 

triumphant voices sing. 



Trochiac measure, 

Anapestic measure, 

Dactylic measure. 

Metre. A stanza composed of Iambic, Tetrametre 
(four feet to a line), rhyming either consecutively or 
alternately is Long Metre. 

'* O, all ye people, clap your hands, 
And with triumphant voices sing." 

When the first and third lines are iambic, tetram- 
etre, and the second and fourth iambic trimetre, the 
rhyme being alternate or combined to the two last 
mentioned, this four lined stanza becomes common 
metre. 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 461 

" Over the Alban mountains high, 
The light of morning broke; 
From all the roofs of the Seven Hills, 
Curled the thin wreathes of smoke." 

When all the lines of this stanza are iambic, trim- 
etre, except the third, and that is tetrametre, the 
rhyme being the same as in the last case, we have 
short metre. 

" The day is past and gone, 
The evening shades appear, 
Oh! may we all remember well 
The night of death draws near." 

CAPITAL LETTERS 

Rule 8. Begin all direct quotations with a capital. 
11. Also in referring to well known events, as Magna 
Charta, the American Revolution, etc. Also the 
names of principal places, as Rocky Mountains, the 
Hudson River, etc. 

BEAUTY 

It does not afford the mind so great a degree of sat- 
isfaction as the sublime, but it is more pleasing and 
agreeable. 

The chief elements of Beauty are color, figure as 
symmetry, curve, grace of gradual change, symmetry, 
smoothness, motion, smallness and delicacy, design 
or utility. 

The most beautiful object in nature is a landscape. 

There is a beauty in sound, as music. 

There is a moral beauty as well as a natural beauty. 

The human countenance, besides other qualities, 
adds expression. 



462 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

RHYME 

Should be so constructed with regard to its sense 
as to admit of one pause, or cessation of voice after 
about ten syllables. This is called the Primary pause, 
the shorter pause is called the Secondary pause. 

In Heroic Iambic, the pause should come after the 
fourth or fifth syllable. 

In iambic hexometre (or Alexandrine) the primary 
pause should come after the third foot, as 

"The cruel, ravenous hounds || and bloody hunters near, 
This noblest beast of chase, || that vainly doth but fear. 

A word must not be divided in making a pause. 
A pause adds to the length of a word ( perhaps equal 
to a syllable). 

PROSE COMPOSITION 

First form an Analysis or Abstract or Brief of the 
whole discourse intended. 

Second, from this Abstract, proceed to write out 
the discourse or argument. This writing out or filling 
up is called Amplification, which may be elaborate 
and exhaustive, or otherwise. 

BOOKS, TECHNICAL, SIZE OF 

8 vo. 12 mo. quarto, folio, etc., see Mem. Book No. 3, 
page 116. 

O. J. H. 



VI 
STRAY THOUGHTS 



" HEU MISERANDI AH ME ! " 

"T TEU MISERANDI AH ME!" (Ah! miser- 
XTX able that I am. ) said an old Roman, but no 
Roman, young or old, could ever have made the 
dolorous expression with more truthfulness and feel- 
ing or more force of expression than I can feel and 
make it. Mental and physical depression weighs upon 
me like an incubus, like a cloud of unyielding lead, 
an immovable load of accumulated misery that no 
human power can remove. Both mental and physical 
enjoyment are sunk in the bottomless abyss of oblivion 
and can no more be resuscitated than Milton's arch 
angel could be restored from the lowest depths of the 
pit, to light and glory. All is lost! lost! Gone for- 
ever. Fond and fleeting memory in vain may strive 
to retrace its steps and go backward in the course of 
time when this horrid incubus did not rest upon me, 
then the heart was light and the mind was cheerful, 
when hope with her gilded rays of promise delusively 
glowed before an imagination animated by the vigor 
of youth, but in vain. The scene has changed, the 
vision has fled. The youthful glow of a hopeful imag- 
ination to a dark, black and pall-like cloud of gloom 
which rests upon me like a nightmare, struggle and 
wrestle with it which way I will, I cannot break the 
fatal chord with which destiny has bound me. Like 
Prometheus chained to a monstrous rock, and the vul- 
ture of an incurable disease preying at my vitals; well 

465 



466 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

might I, like Lord Byron's " Manfred," pray for one 
single hour of calmness; to obtain the boon is impos- 
sible. 'Tis not for me, an inexorable destiny has 
chained me to a hopeless disease, and by that I must 
perish. I repeat Heu miserandi ah me. I have 
fought against my destiny for thirty years but it has 
conquered. 

Eeclusb of the Hermitage. 
Nov. 19, 1869. 



THANKSGIVING DINNER 

THE English express the idea of a feast or holiday 
dinner by the word feast or festival, the French 
express the same idea by the word " fete " or " jeux," 
the Germans express it by " festlich " or " festag," 
the Romans called it " festivitas " or " festivio." 
Whichever word is used, it conveys to the mind the 
idea of good company and good living, of joyousness 
and the gratification of the senses, both in a morally, 
pleasurable, and a gustatory or appetizing point of 
view. Gratification either of the sensual or mental 
desires of our natures is sought for by all. The rich 
who feed on the luxuries of the world, both foreign 
and domestic, make the greatest possible sacrifices by 
the expenditure of wealth to obtain the most rare and 
costly delicacies to tempt and gratify the appetite, or 
if the man of wealth be inclined to prefer science, art 
or literature to the gratification of the animal appe- 
tite, he stops not for cost in obtaining his mental food, 
books, paintings, statuary and the like. While the 
poor man does his best, scanting his meals and his fare 
for a week or a month that on a given day or holiday, 
he may acquire the long coveted luxury of an unusu- 
ally good meal with a few selected friends, or that he 
may gain the possession of a single, long-coveted book, 
a meagre painting or the like. Thus each individual 
" seeks an individual goal " and, if successful, the 
gratification of the one is probably fully equal to that 

467 



468 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

of the other. The poor man enjoys just as much as 
the rich man. 

MORAL 

It is best for each one of us to be contented with the 
lot that destiny has assigned us. 

Recluse of the Hermitage. 
Smethport, Nov. 18, 1869. 



AFFECTION 

THE workings of the human heart is a gushing 
fountain of emotions, some of which are more 
pure and worthy of the God-like nature of an immortal 
spirit than affection. Other emotions are more selfish 
and less disinterested. Love is selfish because it 
covets the object it admires. Gratitude is not entirely 
free from selfishness because it springs from the idea 
of a benefit conferred which you barely reciprocate 
as a duty you owe for the favor received for which you 
feel under an obligation to be grateful, thankful. 
Hence you feel in the emotion of gratitude that duty 
requires and prompts you thus to pay a debt which 
you owe to your friend. Charity itself is not entirely 
free from the taint of interest for while you bestow a 
gift in charity, you do so with the reflection that pos- 
sibly by the mysterious turn of the wheels of fortune, 
some future day may find you or your offspring in 
need of just the same charity which you now bestow 
upon your fellow sufferer. 

But affection, pure and uncontaminated by self- 
interest, vanity or self-love, grasps the object of its 
attachment to the heart because it loves, esteems and 
admires the object to which it is bound by a cord of 
sympathy for the purity, the virtue and the true 
worth of itself, and hence it is that true affection is 
one of the most brilliant attributes of the human 
heart. 

469 



470 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

Wishing you long life and happiness, I have the 
honor to be, 

Your obedient servant, 

O. J. Hamlin. 
Miss Martha Peel, 

Smethport, 7 March, 1851. 



TO MY CANARY 

MY little canary is as yellow as gold, 
He sings all the day and is two years old. 
Struts round his cage and looks very neat, 
Whenever he's singing, says " Buckwheat, Buck- 
wheat." 

He stays in his cage from morn till night, 

And be it never so pleasant, ne'er thinks of a flight, 

When I sit in my chair and look at thee, 

I say to myself, " Wouldst like to be free? " 

Could'st thou try thy fair wings through the keen 

bracing air, 
Thou would'st fly from thy home, far, very far, 
Then who would protect thee from the storms and the 

showers, 
Or feed thee when hungry? You can't live on flowers. 

Better stay, little bird, with one who loves and pro- 
tects thee, 

Thou wilt find no surer friend o'er land or o'er 
sea. 

Then sing thy sweet music, tune up with thy glee. 

Search the world over, thou art loved best by me. 

O. J. H. 

Smethport, 7 March, 1851. 

471 



AN OUTING 

ON the 31st of May, 1870, I was wheeled to the 
front hall door in a chair. The door was open. 
I looked out and the experience of going to the door 
and looking to the street for the first time in five 
years was not an agreeable one. The road looked 
smooth in the middle but extremely rough and un- 
natural at each side. I saw a cow walking in the 
road. She seemed to be moving in the air without 
stepping on the solid earth. A man drove along in 
a buggy. The horse, the man and the buggy appeared 
to move without touching the ground. All I saw 
was extremely unnatural. I saw a child on the 
sidewalk. She seemed to be twenty or thirty feet be- 
low me and I had to look down, down, down. 
There was an unnatural stillness all about me, 
a painful stillness, like the silence of the charmed 
house or total oblivion. The sun shone too brightly 
and the houses and trees looked weird, rough, dreamy 
and unnatural. I looked towards Prospect Hill. 
The hill seemed strange. It appeared a long range of 
ethereal blue, with some sombre and dark color for a 
background and looked like a cloud or mirage painted 
on the sky. The impression was disagreeable and 
lasting. I stayed ten minutes, but the feeling first 
received remained as long as I stayed. 

The next day I renewed the experiment and found 
the out-door scene more natural. 

O. J. H. 

472 



HISTORICAL AGES 

THE ages of Stone, Brass and Bronze, the Iron 
Age, Golden Age, Dark Age, Age of Revival 
of the Classics, The Age of Chivalry, of General Re- 
vival of Letters and Modern Civilization. 

DIFFERENT AGES OF THE WORLD 

The different and successive Ages referred to in 
the following synopsis are often referred to as in- 
dicating the successive steps or periods of civiliza- 
tion of the human race. They are used as symbols to 
represent the progress of our race, step by step. 

1st. The Stone Age represents the earliest rudi- 
ments in the progress of civilization, the primitive 
period, as stone was first used by the primitive race 
for utensils and armor. Thus we find that before 
Jerusalem was built, Stone was used for utensils, 
for ornaments, for structures, for monuments, etc. 
Stone was the medium for utensils and armor among 
all the barbaric tribes of Scythians, Huns, Goths and 
Celts of Europe and by the North American Indians 
before our continent was discovered, as witness their 
stone mortars to pound corn, their stone axes, 
hatchets and arrow heads. 

2d. Then comes the Ages of Brass and Bronze, 
(Bronze being an alloy of Copper and Tin). This 
age commenced soon after the flood of Noah's time, 
as is shown by the fact that the ruins of ancient 

473 



474 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

Thebes in Egypt contained acres of edifices, temples, 
palaces and statuary (apparently uniting the Stone 
with the Bronze Age), there being found large num- 
bers of Obelisks, statues and monuments both in gran- 
ite, marble and bronze, its wall of stone and its hun- 
dred gates of brass, the city was begun by a grandson 
of Noah about one hundred fifty years after the great 
deluge, and before the pyramids were built. We have 
the Bronze Age also on our continent, as is proven 
by the ruins of ancient cities supposed to have been 
built by the Aztecs in Peru and Mexico, probably one 
thousand to two thousand years before Columbus 
discovered America. The Aztecs used bronze as their 
metal for utensils and instead of mortar or cement, 
in Peru, to fasten the hewn stone of their buildings 
together, the blocks being (as it were) dove-tailed 
together by hooklike bands of bronze. This was the 
second stage of human civilization and progress and 
represents human development in art. I may add 
that Babylon, built one hundred fifteen years after 
the deluge, had its one hundred gates of brass. 

3d. The Iron Age. This age has, as I understand 
history, nothing to do with the discovery or use of 
iron, but historically is referred to as that period 
of time in the progress of civilization when men were 
mainly controlled by muscular power, physical force, 
when the development of muscular power was the 
great object aimed at. The period when men most 
of all studied and practiced the art of war. It, 
therefore, typifies or is emblematical of the time when 
the physical qualities of man most prevailed, when 
strength, valor, courage, bravery, power of physical 
endurance and martial prowess were considered the 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 475 

highest possible human attainments, when to be a 
good and great soldier was thought to be the chief 
end and object of man in this life. This period, I 
should think may be assigned to the time from the 
Trojan war B. C. 1100 to the close of the reign of 
Julius Caesar B. C. 56, although in Roman history 
it would be from the foundation of Rome to the time 
of Augustus Caesar B. C. 43. A period in the history 
of the human race nearly exclusively devoted to war, 
carnage and conquest. It signally denotes the age 
(figuratively speaking) of iron muscles, iron nerves, 
iron will and iron hearts, which could not be moved 
by scenes of cruelty or the ravages of war. This was 
the Iron Age. 

4th. The Golden Age. This symbolizes the revival 
of the classics of the Greek and Roman literature 
which occurred in what is called the Augustan age 
in the reign of Augustus Caesar in the 43d year of 
the Christian era. It continued down to the begin- 
ning of the declension or decline of the Roman Em- 
pire in the fourth and fifth centuries and includes 
the reigns of the best Roman Emperors, Nerva, Tro- 
jan, the two Anthonys, Pius and Marcus and Had- 
rian. It was that age in the progress of civilization 
when people had relaxed from the art, the attendant 
barbaric practices of war, and changed from the cul- 
tivation of muscle to the cultivation of mind. It was 
the first age of the revival of learning when people 
turned their thoughts from the practice of military 
arms to the realm of mental thought, when mind be- 
gan to triumph over matter and the material elements 
of life, and the more bitter and cruel elements of 
physical strife; when mind came into collision with 



476 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

mind and resulted in the cultivation of the arts of 
peace instead of war, when the orations of Cicero 
were listened to with rapture, when men's minds and 
emotional feelings were electrified by reading the 
Epic poems of Homer and the Epic, Idyl and pastoral 
poems of Virgil, with the heroic and tragic poems of 
Thucydides and the old Green masters of the lyric 
art. In short to repeat, the first great revival of 
learning. The lamp of learning blazed and shed its 
rays of genial intelligence until the beginning of the 
benighting influence of the Dark Ages, when the lamp 
of learning was extinguished four or five centuries, 
during which time intellect was buried in the oblivion 
of almost total darkness. This Age indicates not the 
much coveted metal of gold ; but, as it is esteemed the 
most valuable of all metals, so was this Age the most 
valuable to mankind in their progress of civilization. 

To the Golden Age, may be added the Age of Peri- 
cles, who in the 4th century was the most popular and 
successful man of Athens in Greece. He loved and 
patronized the arts and during his reign of power, 
Athens was adorned with magnificent temples, edifices, 
statuary, sculpture and paintings ; and oratory, poetry 
and science were most successfully cultivated and 
admired, so that Athens out-shone for the beauty of 
its adornments and the culture of its citizens any 
other city of ancient and perhaps modern times. 

5th. The Dark Ages. This expression applies to 
that part of European history embraced in a part of 
the eighth with the ninth, tenth and a part of the 
eleventh centuries, when all Italy was conquered and 
overrun by those races or tribes of northern barbar- 
ians called Scythians, Goths, Huns and Vandals, and 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN • 477 

when France and even England had been in like man- 
ner overrun by the Celts. Then learning was neg- 
lected, the priests were driven from their churches 
and the monks from their cloisters, the northern semi- 
barbarians ruled the land for a long time and intro- 
duced physical force as a rule of government instead 
of civil law, and all power was swayed by the mili- 
tary chieftain and his retainers and a system of feudal 
vassalage prevailed through all Europe. The nobles 
were ignorant, merciless, intolerant and supersti- 
tious, and intellectual darkness fully pervaded the 
whole land. But books and learning were to some 
extent preserved by the monks and the clergy until 
finally in the tenth and eleventh centuries, Europe 
was aroused from its death-like lethargy by the 
preaching of Peter the Hermit and his compatriots 
who set Europe in a flame of enthusiasm by the cry of 
the Crusades to free the holy Sepulchre of the Saviour 
from the infidels. 

6th. The Age of Chivalry resulted from the 
crusades and was mainly confined to the tenth and 
eleventh centuries. It was an age when physical 
strength, courage and military prowess or valor were 
cultivated to their fullest extent and were esteemed 
to be the perfection of true manhood. In this age 
much good was accomplished. The semi-barbarous 
manners of preceding ages were much softened and 
began to be refined, particularly more becoming re- 
spect began to be shown to woman. She then began 
to be treated as an equal and to receive that deference 
and respectful attention which has ever marked the 
advance of intelligence and civilization up to the 
present day. Then politeness and gallantry were the 



478 ORLO JAY HAMLIN 

order of the day and the times and mankind improved 
gradually in intelligence and refinement until the 
dawn of the general revival of learning. 

7th. The Age of the General Revival of Learning, 
which began to dawn in the 11th century and cul- 
minated in the 15th century in the discovery of the 
printing press, that great lever force which has moved 
the intellectual power of the world. 

Next followed the Age of the Reformation of 1520, 
which broke the fetters imposed upon the right of 
private judgment by the former score of centuries 
and left men's consciences and judgment free. 

The Present Age, the 19th century, has been an age 
of great mental activity, and has accomplished many 
wondrous works of which I do not propose now to 
write. 

There is another view of the Ages, called the 
Golden, the Brass and the Iron Age, indicating that 
the gods once communicated with men in the Golden 
Ages, but began to withdraw their influence, then came 
the Brass Age, and when they entirely withdrew from 
men, then came the Iron Age. This is the early re- 
versed order of the Ages. 

Recluse of the Hermitage. 

18 Dec, 1870. 



MISCELLANIES AND EXTRACTS 

THEODORA said : " Rome is the eternal city and 
mnst ever be eternal." She lived only to see 
" Rome free." She told Lothair that " The fighting 
would be in France" This seems now to have been 
prophecy (in 1873) for Rome is now free and the fight- 
ing has not been in Italy, but in France — not by the 
Italians or liberators of Rome, but by the Prussians. 
I think it was Monsigneur Berwick who said that 
" if the Pontificate were removed from Rome, there 
would not, in five years, be a dynasty left in all 
Europe." The freeing of Rome seems the work of 
Providence or destiny. If Theodora had been a real 
person and lived, she would have seen all this. 
Disraeli too has been an unwitting prophet. 

The Angels come from Heaven to Earth, using the 
stars for stairs. 

Better far to die and sink into oblivion than to live 
forever and suffer eternal punishment. Better that 
man had never been born than that even a few hu- 
man beings should exist in torment forever. Who 
of us would purchase the enjoyment of a life of un- 
interrupted health and pleasure for three score years 
and ten and then be cast into a lake of burning fire 
and roll in living torment for a single year? Is there 
one? 

479 



480 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

PHILOSOPHY 

Man's knowledge of Philosophy, or moral, is con- 
fined to very narrow limits, he soon finds himself 
limited by the possible, and stopped by the impos- 
sible. 

Decency is the least of all laws, but it is most 
generally observed. 

Hermitage, Smethport, 5 Nov., 1869. 
" Oft in the stilly night, when slumber's chains hath bound me, 
Fond memory brings the light of other days around me, 
The joys, the tears, of childhood's years; the words so softly 

spoken, 
The hopes, the fears, that years of time have broken." 

Hope is a gilded toy, a bubble of air blown by the 
wind of expectation and an excited imagination, it 
is delusive alike to the old and the young ; never real- 
ized, but always seemingly believed that it may yet 
be realized at some future period of time; but that 
period of time is sure never to come. 

Thus we pass onward through the journey of life, 
always the victims of a deluded imagination, follow- 
ing like little children, an ignis fatuus, an imaginary 
golden ball, that ever seems just before us, nearly 
caught, but never reached and grasped; never realiz- 
ing the fruition of our long and persevering search 
for human happiness, a blessing often thought of and 
talked of, but which destiny has seemed to have or- 
dained we should never attain in this life. 

Recluse. 

Hermitage, Smethport, 5 Nov., 1869. 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 481 

It is hard for mortals to submit to an inexorable 
destiny; but, hard as it is, it is unavoidable. There 
is no other way. The best we can do, all we can do, 
is to do the best we can under the circumstances by 
which we are inevitably surrounded ; cheerfully yield- 
ing to those unfavorable conditions we cannot avoid 
and manfully contending against those that can be 
ameliorated or subdued. 

Recluse. 

The Recluse of the Hermitage. Look to the life 
that knows no sorrow. 

" Fare thee well ! And if forever : Fare thee 
well ! " Adieu ! et si pour jamais ; to jours adieu. 
" Adieu ! and if forever, still adieu." 

The universe is a shoreless sea. God said : " Let 
there be light, and there was light." This is one, if 
not the most sublime sentences ever written in any 
language. Sublimity consists more in the idea than 
in the language with which the thought is clothed. 

Recluse. 



MY FAVORITE EXTRACTS FROM LONG- 
FELLOWS "HYPERION" 

THIN, vapory clouds, whose snow-white clouds 
were often spotted with golden tears, which men 
call stars. 

One holds his breath to hear the quick footsteps 
of the falling snow like the footsteps of angels de- 
scending on earth. 

Jean Paul Richter loved the humanity of man, not 
his superiority. 

Richter was a comet among the bright stars of 
German literature. 

Truly, the world can go on without us very well 
if we would only think so. 

Heidleberg, a pleasant town, when it has done rain- 
ing. 

A summer which is no summer, but only a winter 
painted green. 

The setting sun glared wildly from the summit of 
the hills and sank like a burning ship at sea, wrecked 
in the tempest, and winter stood at the gate like an old 
harper wagging his white and shaggy beard, chant- 
ing an old rhyme. 

We shall wake and find that the frost-spirit has 
been at work all night building gothic cathedrals on 
our windows. 

Literary men of retired habits and professors study 
sixteen hours a day and never see the world, except 
on Sundays. 

482 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 483 

If it were not for them, who would feed the un- 
dying lamp of thought? 

These individuals are of great importance in a na- 
tion's history. Blot out the names of Shakespeare, 
Milton and others and what would England be? 

Do not these men in all ages and all countries 
emblazon with bright colors the armorial bearings of 
their country? 

The Chinese proverb, " Better a single conversation 
across the table with a wise man than ten years' study 
of books." 

A man often thinks he has found a new idea, but 
really he has only received a thought that may have 
been written for ages before. 

The Turks carefully collected every scrap of paper 
that had the name of God written on it. 

Next to a Newgate calendar, the biography of 
authors is the most sickening chapter in the history 
of man. 

Glorious indeed is the world of God around us, but 
more glorious is the world of God within us. 

The setting of a great hope is like the setting of the 
sun, the brightness of our life is gone. 

The artist feeds many lives upon beauty and dwells 
upon it until his very soul is full. Such an one as 
lives at Florence. 

The driving hail upon the windows beats with icy 
flail. 

Those green-coated musicians, the frogs, make mel- 
ody in the neighboring marshes. 

There is no grief like the grief that does not speak. 

An ignorant woman asked whether " Christ were 
a Catholic or a Protestant? " 



484 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

A poet lives in the dreamland of his thoughts and 
clothes himself in poetry. 

The professor and philosopher, solitary, but with a 
mighty current flowed the river of his life, like the 
Nile, without a tributary stream and making fertile 
only a narrow strip in the vast desert. 

He gazed from the eyes of childhood, from the far- 
gone past upward, trusting, hoping; and to the dim 
future, triumphant, not despairing. 

Life is one and individual. Its forms many and 
individual. 

In the wonderful creation, there is never-ceasing 
motion. Swifter than the weaver's shuttle, it flies 
from birth to death, from death to birth. 

The vast cathedral of nature is full of Holy Scrip- 
tures and shapes of deep mysterious meaning, but 
all is solitary and silent there. 

In Nature herself, without man, there lies a waiting 
and hoping after an unknown somewhat. 

The uprising sun calls out the spicy odors of the 
thousand flowers. 

Orion puts on his shining armor to walk forth into 
the fields of heaven. 

Man stands a mountain on the boundary between 
two worlds, its foot in one, its summit far-rising into 
the other. 

And as we ascend evermore with bright glances of 
the daybreak of Eternity before us. 

No man can look God in the face and not die, but 
the time may come when we may. The eagle can look 
at the sun and not die. 

This earthly life when seen hereafter, from heaven, 
will reveal to us many of our errors and will 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 485 

seem like an hour passed long ago and dimly re- 
membered. 

In our reveries, the soul goes out of the body into 
distant places, instead of summing up their semblance 
(the semblance of things) by the power of memory 
and imagination. 

I am, thou art, he is, seems but a schoolboy's con- 
jugation. But therein lies a mysterious meaning. 

I can never cease to work. This is my destiny, and 
consequently never cease to be. What men call death 
cannot break off this task, which is never ending. 
Consequently no period is set to my being and I am 
eternal. I lift my head boldly to the storm clouds 
and summits of the mountains. I am eternal and 
defy your power. Break over me, thou earth and 
thou heaven, in the wild tumult. I am eternal and 
defy your power. This body, this atom of dust, shall 
triumph over the ruins of the universe. I compre- 
hend my destiny. I am eternal. 

An old idea folded in a new garment. We pretend 
not to know it, although seen from our childhood. 
We pretend to originate it and call it ours. 

Why reason with the wind, with thunder showers? 
Better sit quiet and see them pass over like a pageant. 
Cloudy, vast and superb. 

The philosopher is what the transcendentalists call 
a God-intoxicated man. 

Hope has as many lives as a cat, like the King who 
never dies. 

Travelers, like children, must touch whatever they 
behold. 

A mill forms a romantic feature in a German land- 
scape. 



486 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

Poetic fancy does not prevent feeling the chill air 
or the pangs of hunger. 

Goethe was a magnificent old man. He painted in 
words as a painter paints on canvas, or a statue-maker 
models in marble. 

Two modes of art, the initiative and the imaginative 
or original. 

Every German jackass must have a kick at the dead 
lion. (Meaning Goethe.) 

The Germans call a cemetery " God's acre." 

Like Henry of Ofterdingen who " thought to music." 

The bee never plays, and seems vexed that any one 
else should play. 

Berkley said of Interlachen, " The sun of life shall 
set e'er I forget thee." 

A bald head, like the crow's nest with an egg in 
it. 

The white forehead of the young frau blushed at 
the last kiss of the departing sun. 

How wonderful is the human voice. God spake in 
a still, small voice. The soul of man is audible, not 
visible. 

Mary Ashburton, what a soul was hers ! A temple 
dedicated to Heaven and like the Parthenon at Rome, 
lighted only from above. 

Why give way to sadness in this beautiful world? 

Every heart has its secret sorrows which the world 
knows not of, and oftentimes we call a man cold 
when he is only sad. 

Her form arose like a tremulous star in the firma- 
ment of his soul. 

" Thou art fairer than the evening air, clad in the 
beauty of a thousand stars," from Marlow's Faust. 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 487 

From Homer's Hymn to Apollo: " Let me also 
hope to be remembered in ages to come." 

Nature is a revelation of God. Art a revelation of 
man. 

What we call miracles of Art are not so to him who 
created them, for they were created by the natural 
movements of his own great soul. Statues, paintings, 
churches, poems are but shadows of himself. He pro- 
duced those things as easily as inferior minds do 
thoughts and things inferior, perhaps more easily. 

He knows only that God has given him a power 
that is denied to others. 

The transfiguration of Christ, by Raphael. 

The Monk and the Silver Horn, the Wetter Horn, 
the Schreck Horn, and Schwartz Horn ; sublime apos- 
tles of nature, whose sermons are avalanches. Was 
anything ever seen more grand? 

And high above all rises the white, domelike summit 
of Mount Blanc, with its glaciers on either side, wind- 
ing down the mountain ravines. 

The power of love everywhere, in all ages, creates 
angels who likewise follow the happy or unhappy 
lover everywhere, even in his dreams. 



LEGEND OF THE NUNUNDAH 

LET us sing the song of the red man. 
Many ages have passed, have faded away and 
are lost in oblivion. 

Since the Great Spirit first placed the sons of the 
forest in their home of the Great West. 

The dutiful sons of their ancient sires, for ages 
that have long circled away, have returned their bones 
to the dust from whence they came. 

The sacred mound has been raised to commemorate 
the event of their interment. 

For hundreds of years, season after season, native 
flowers have blossomed in all the luxuriance of na- 
ture's magnificence to deck the tombs of the departed. 

Year after year, for century after century, have 
their filial descendants with pious reverence re- visited 
the mausoleums of their fathers. 

As often as they re-visited, so often did they renew 
their funeral wail, the last sad mourning for the 
dead. 

The red man, the sons of the forest, are passing 
away like the rushing of a mighty wind. 

The grand services of civilization have been sweep- 
ing with unmitigated fury, carrying desolation to the 
dusky Indian in its path, from the east toward the 
west, since the white man first set his foot on Amer- 
ican soil. 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 489 

The red man has fallen before its blasts as the 
grain falls before the reaper's hook. 

The poor Indian stands npon the native eminence 
of his mountain home and looks abroad. 

His native forests have disappeared as though they 
had been removed by the magic of enchantment. 

The covert for the spotted deer has gone ; the stately 
forests; among which he had delighted to roam in 
pursuing this favorite game, have disappeared. 

His eye rests upon naught but the desolating prog- 
ress of the white men. 

O. J. H. 



HAMLIN'S TRANSLATION OF 
" LA MARSEILLAISE " 

LET us go, children of our country, 
The day of glory is arrived; 
Against us the tyranny, 
The bloody flag is raised. 
Intend you to enter the troop, 
And roar with those ferocious soldiers? 
They come from afar with their arms, 
To murder your sons, your companions. 

To arms! Citizens, form your battalions, 
Let an impure blood fill up your furrows! 
To arms, etc. 

Who is willing this horde of slaves, 
Of traitors sworn to the king? 
For who these ignoble fetters, 
These irons a long time prepared? 
France, for us, oh! what outrage, 
What transports it does excite! 
It is to our people a bold menace, 
To restore us to ancient slavery! 
To arms, etc. 

What! these cohorts of strangers, 
Should make the law of our homes! 
What! these phalanxes of mercenaries, 
Should throw down our proud warriors! 
Great God! by these enchained hands, 

490 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 491 

Our fronts under the yoke ourselves have bent; 
Vile despots to become, 
The masters of our destiny! 
To arms, etc. 

Tremble, tyrants! and you perfidious, 
Shame on your whole party; 
Your paricidal projects, 
Shall finally receive their price. 
All soldiers who fight for you 
Shall fall, our young heroes 
Of France, shall send a new product, 
All prepared to battle (or to strike). 
To arms, etc. 

France has magnanimous warriors, 
To bear or return the blow. 
They spare their sorrowful victims 
With regret, to arm against you; 
But those despots sanguinary, 
But those accomplices of (Bouille) 
All those tigers who, without pity, 
Rend the bosom of their mother. 
To arms, etc. 

Sacred love of country, 
Conducts, supports our brave avengers. 
Liberty! Liberty! cherish, 
It fights with your defenders. 
Under our colors all are victorious, 
Run at their manly voices, 
That our enemies may expire. 
They see thy triumph and your glory. 
To arms, etc. 



AN INCOMPLETE PICTURE OF AN EPISODE 

OF THE WRITER AT THE AGE OF 

NINETEEN YEARS 

NOVEMBER 9, A. D., 1822, after riding the prin- 
cipal part of the day, Philander returned home 
just at evening, laboring under a chronic affection 
of the lumbar region of the spine. About sunset he 
retired to rest in an upper apartment of the house 
(being no more than a garret), where laying himself 
down upon the bed (which was placed upon the floor), 
he built him, as ancient Bards say, " a fairy castle 
in the air." Being composed as follows: 

He fancied himself having by some mysterious 
means formed an acquaintance with a wealthy young 
lady, who resided in Sino near Ama Village, being 

situate on the East side of Lake C , while he at 

the same time was in attendance of a course of the 
study of surgery with one Dr. Barr, a relative of 
his. While engaged in the business of the office, his 
attention was called off by the entrance of a strange 
gentleman whom he knew not; but he, wanting a few 
articles in the druggist line, introduced conversation, 
and ended by an invitation from Mr. Mung to dine at 
his house on the following day, which he accepted. 
Accordingly Mr. Mung sent his carriage and serv- 
ant at the time appointed. Philander stepped into 
the carriage and soon was alighted at the gate of Mr. 
Mung, from whence he was shown into the parlor, 

492 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 493 

where, to his utmost surprise and almost confusion, 
he found Miss Caroline, who was actually daughter 
of the above-mentioned gentleman. But he assured 
me that the surprise was by no means a disagreeable 
one. 

After the dinner was served up, the company con- 
versed freely on fashionable topics, till about two 
o'clock, when to his astonishment they were left en- 
tirely alone, which caused a blush to enliven the 
delicate cheek of Miss Caroline, and, he acknowl- 
edged, did not a little surprise him. However, after 
a pause of a few moments he had the good courage to 
break the ice of silence by addressing Miss Caroline 
in the most condescending and orthodox style which 
his ingenuity was capable of inventing ; minutes, nay 
even hours, were hardly counted, spent in the most 
agreeable conversation, till at length the sun was seen 
bidding its last lingering farewell to the day upon 
the blue and dusky waters of the lake, which reminded 
him of the office. He proceeded to bid Miss Caroline 
a good evening, while she insisted upon his calling 
again, and further of his being waited upon to town 
in the carriage; to which he declined, saying that 
the pleasure of walking was greater than that of rid- 
ing, as a person in his business needed exercise. He 
therefore tripped along the smooth green lawn verg- 
ing on the lake with dauntless intrepidity. 

Here let the history of events rest, except suffice 
to say he would frequently cast a thought upon the 
dinner and Miss Caroline, until about a month had 
elapsed, when Mr. Mung called and gave him a slight 
reprimand for his neglect in not coming to see him, 
and ended by inviting him to ride home with him that 



494 LIFE AND WOKKS OF 

day, which he did. When he arrived at Mr. Mung's 
he found Miss Caroline in the sitting room, who im- 
mediately gave him a very polite welcome. After 
dinner they were, as before, left entirely alone ; after 
an hour or two spent in conversation, a silence en- 
sued. She again resumed, when after some circum- 
locution, with an agitated frame and a trembling 
voice, in accents soft as the dew that descends from 
Heaven, her cheeks glowing with that latent and in- 
trinsic ardor which, proceeding from true and un- 
biased love, is only to be found where it warms the 
hearts of the virtuous, declared that she loved him, 
and that without any restraint ; this in a prude would 
have been considered to be basely rude, but in her 
it was a mark of nobleness of spirit and heroic forti- 
tude. It was such a deed as in her affluency of cir- 
cumstances compared with the pecuniary embarrass- 
ment of his, would be an epoch even in the biography 
of a princess. He was amazed, bewildered, and for a 
time tacit — he knew not what to say ; the agitated 
features of so beautiful and interesting a person, the 
softness of the accents, the interest which he seemed 
to participate in the oral edict, at length induced 
him to break out in the following ecstatic speech: 
Oh ! thou Heaven born minstrel ! surely so, or whence 
such magic. Oh! thou kind soother of misfortune's 
humblest child! whence comest thou? from worlds 
ethereal? or art thou sent by some kind Angel to 
administer the balm of consolation to an unworthy, 
wandering stranger? Sure Heaven is kind and well 
deserves to be adored! After which he seized her 
trembling hand in an ecstasy of delight and called 
God to witness, that, from that moment, they were 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 495 

forever united. He pressed her quivering lips, 
heaved a tender sigh, and left her. 

Here we may only follow him to Philadelphia, where 
we shall leave him to receive a course of lectures. 
Soon after his departure she was visited by a gentle- 
man of a superior fortune but of inferior accomplish- 
ments, who soon made proposals of marriage, to 
which her mother only consented. But the conflict- 
ing passions which the lady must necessarily undergo, 
I leave the gentle reader to imagine. I am here 
brought to confess (as will easily be seen) my in- 
capacity in writing legendary lore. We will suppose, 
for instance, that a man in indigent circumstances, 
reduced almost to a complete state of penury, his 
family connections neither rich nor very well known, 
but both good, virtuous and honorable, and he study- 
ing a profession not the first by rank or title, in the 
course of common events such a person would have 
been looked upon by her as being a mere inferior. 
But he possessed a warm and tender heart open to 
all the good, humane and kind affections, he was 
possessed of pure and unsullied virtue, that glorious 
prerequisite to the reception of all the Heaven born 
blessings; that virtue which proclaims defiance to 
the many scenes of pleasure derived from the practice 
of many follies and vices which are practiced by the 
Epicures of the present day; and which alone will 
stand the test in the great and awful day of judg- 
ment, but to use her own words, 

"In humblest simplest habits clad, 
No wealth, nor power had he; 
Wisdom and worth were all he had, 
And these were all to me." 



496 LIFE AND WOKKS OF 

And on the other hand, we find a man possessed of 
a large estate surrounded by a crowd of mercenary 
flatterers, obeying no dictates but those of idle pleas- 
ure, yielding to no appetite but that of wanton lux- 
ury and debasing his morals by many pernicious 
practices, which always prove a final source of well- 
merited punishment, but again to use her own words. 

" My father lived beside the Tyne, 
A wealthy squire was he, 
And all his wealth was marked as mine, 
He had but only me. 
To win me from his tender arms, 
Unnumbered times Sir Henry came, 
Who praised me for imputed charms 
And hoped to fan a flame." 

In the meantime her mother became more deter- 
mined upon her marriage with Mr. Henry, and she 
grew more fixed in her resolution to marry no other 
but the one for whom she had formed so singular 
an attachment ; from forming a contrast between two 
characters of so dissimilar a color. And we may here 
observe that where virtue is once deeply fixed in the 
female heart it is then immovable ; it then will be able 
to stand the assaults of all the gathering storms of 
surrounding folly which spreads her delusive charms 
to lure the innocent and helpless victim to an un- 
timely doom; it stands like the rock of Plymouth, 
which tho' the rugged billows have beat furiously 
and violently against its surface ever since the eve 
of Creation, yet it stands unmoved ; and, as it seems, 
it bids defiance to the howling surge of Neptune and 
hollow blasts of Boreas; but when once it has per- 
mitted the enemy to take possession of the least of 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 497 

the fortifications which guard it, or pride, or envy, or 
any of the malignant passions has been enabled to 
secure one post, then the stronghold is laid open to 
the followers of dissimulations and calumny which 
ever prove a source of detestation and disrespect to 
the possessor. 

But to return to our subject. The visits of Mr. 
Henry became more frequent, and while he met with 
better reception from her parents, he also found that 
Miss Caroline received him with more coldness and 
less affection, and what was worse in his estimation 
was that the rose on her cheek was slightly diminish- 
ing, her countenance grew pallid and the cheerful 
smile was slowly acquiring a settled serenity ; but as 
yet he had discovered nothing that evinced a disre- 
gard for him. He simply observed to her that the 
dimple of health was fading from her lovely cheek 
and he was fearful it was in consequence of disorder 
of the mind, to which she gave no other reply, but 
that the countenance was sometimes a sure index of 
the mind. And it may here be observed that when a 
person is passionately in love with an object, that 
though evidently slighted by the object, yet he cannot 
discern it. 

To return to the hero of our story. About five suc- 
cessive moons have passed since Philander parted 
from the mistress, who was the sole object of his heart, 
in which time she had received no intelligence from 
him. But on the seventh day of the second week of 
the fifth moon, when silence and darkness reigned 
(sacred sisters, twins of ancient night), she was sit- 
ting at a lattice window, reclining on a silken sofa 
and viewing Cynthia as she rose from behind a dis- 



498 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

tant hill covered by the tufted beech, sappy maple 
and the gloomy hemlock, monster of the forest, to 
adorn night's blue arch. " Oh ! " said she, " that I 
could but for one moment see and converse with that 
most innocent and virtuous youth; that youth (I 
might almost say) in whom goodness itself might 
find a monitor! Sweet reflection! enchanting hope! 
in you alone can I find that consolation which in all 
else is denied me. Alas! those hours are fresh, far 
gone indeed, in which were centered the happiness 
of all my prior life, when we sat in this selfsame room, 
in gentle, sportive inoffensive myrth, we laughed old 
lingering Time away. But stop! a thought strikes 
me; methinks I see him like yonder river's moon, 
gently rising from dark obscurity, soon to add a new 
laurel to the wreath of science and like the morning 
sun spread new glories to the opening day." 

She was here interrupted by a servant who entered 
with a letter. She looked and knew the hand, ex- 
claiming: " And it is from him? or am I deceived? 
'Tis well, at a time so unexpected; but is he well?" 
She could conjecture no longer, but hastily broke 
the seal and found as follows : 

" To Caroline : Most lovely perfection of the fair sex. I am 
at a most mortifying loss to know how to address you, my heart 
dies within me, my presence of mind leaves me comfortless and 
am almost resolved to dissuade myself from pursuing this, as it 
really is a pleasing task, when I am almost tempted to think it 
presumption to write to one who perhaps this very instant is 
yielding her lovely hand to a more worthy lover; but she never 
can give it to a more true one, alas, than poor Philander. Why 
do I dwell upon a subject so cruelly heartrending, so unproductive 
of that happiness which I find only in thinking of her for whom 
I would shed the last drop of my heart's blood to rescue from 
danger, and when I viewed the purple stream of Life vividly 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 499 

flowing, should then foretaste the bliss of a happy eternity, by 
being conscious of having once served the person who has so un- 
rewardedly lavished many epithets of love and affection upon 
unworthy me. But oh! amiable Caroline! forgive a few un- 
guarded expressions, flowing from a heart which is depressed 
with many heavy sorrows arising from the consciousness of not 
being worthy of an attachment which it is true was fraught by 
innocence and love. Oh! forgive the least doubt which I have 
uttered when you consider that it is impossible for true love to 
exist without being misled with a slight degree of innocent 
jealousy. Believe me, my dear girl, my heart palpitates with 
ineffable joy when I look forward with a beaming and anxious 
eye to that epoch when I again shall see the fond angel of my 
fond hopes. Oh, the meeting will be a more happy one than when 
Herman met Elosia in the caravansera of Archades. The lovers 
had been separated the full term of five years by the factions 
then existing at the ... of the Roman empire. They met by 
fortuitous circumstances on a spot sacred to the memory of both. 
It was in a wild shade, sequestered from the memorable plains 
of Archades, contiguous to and in sight of that venerable and 
ancient City of Byzantium ; it was just as the vernal sun was 
bidding a last lingering farewell to the toilsome day, and 
night . . ." 



VII 
IMAGINATION AND VISION 



A PICTURE OF THE IMAGINATION 

BY AN INVALID 

IMAGINE a vast level of ground, an interminable 
ocean of continuous connected territory, so 
smooth, so level, that not a mountain, a hill, or an 
undulating knoll can anywhere be found, save at 
great distances apart a few mounds like mountains, 
which gradually rose several thousand feet from a 
level; the extent so great that it is limitless to hu- 
man vision, bounded only by the bright ethereal blue 
of heaven ; the ground, a deep green lawn, lustrous in 
all the possible beauty of a carpet laid in emerald and 
of nature's unerring workmanship; occasionally a 
rivulet of pure and sparkling water seen meandering 
in every possible direction like so many silver chords 
laid over a velvet carpet of green by a power like that 
of enchantment; sometimes these silvery -like chords 
enlarging into a small lake of crystal purity and 
again returning to the size and form of the tiny rivu- 
let; the sands on the shore of each lake glistening in 
the rays of resplendent light like a brilliant, set and 
cased in gold; birds resembling doves and swans of 
snowy whiteness either resting upon or flitting over 
the peaceful waters, with now and then a gold colored 
fish fretting its placid bosom; the lake, somewhat 
starred or studded by tiny islands covered with lawn 
and richly perfumed shrubbery and gorgeous flowers, 
the sometime resting place of those snow white birds 

503 



504 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

— this exhaustless territory seemed overtopped by 
ever-living and richly colored forest foliage, tall trees 
were occasionally seen towering their gigantic heads 
far upward, apparently almost piercing the light 
bright clouds with their round or pointed pinnacles 
but these were sparsely scattered. Next were seen a 
lower growth, some cone-like, some oval, some cir- 
cular and some pyramidal, all throwing out their 
arms or branches pointing and often interlacing in 
every possible direction. These were more numerous 
that the first mentioned variety, but still they were at 
considerable distances each from the other, with many 
open areas where none was to be found. Next came 
a lower growth of that variety whose tops seemed to 
stop or rest just beneath the lowest branches of the 
taller trees. Then came the shrubs of almost endless 
variety of shade and color and of form; not a thick 
and matted undergrowth, but gracefully interspersed 
like the shrubs in a tastefully arranged parterre. 
The whole of this vast ocean of foliage was of every 
conceivable variety of shape and color consistent 
with nature's laws, the darkest, the richest with the 
paler and still more pale green, the mingling of hues 
and shades of color and tinge, the brightest yellow, 
the purest white, the most delicate purple, the deepest 
damask and the most lovely orange, all seemed in- 
terspersed in the graceful arrangement of the foliage 
with as perfect exactings of beauty as the blending 
of the prismatic rays of the rainbow, save and ex- 
cept that nowhere was seen those emblems of mourn- 
ing, the cypress or the yew tree or any others sugges- 
tive of death or an emblem thereof. A large propor- 
tion of these trees and shrubs were portions of each 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 505 

in apparent perpetual blossom, while other portions 
of each tree and shrub bore fruits in every state of 
perfection from its first formation of the fruit to its 
fully ripened condition, the fruit being of every pos- 
sible shape, form and variety of taste, but all inoc- 
uous and healthful. No poisonous fruit or plant was 
among them. As a whole, a grand assemblage, they 
presented an ever-living, ever -blooming and ever-bear- 
ing fruit garden. 

Arranged as it were by the most skillful hand of 
an experienced and highly gifted florist, were strewn 
at intervals rows, beds, squares, circles, octagons and 
in all other imaginable forms, plats of flowering 
plants, so great of variety that their numbers seemed 
endless ; the blossoms of the plants and fruit-growing 
trees gave during the day one perpetual odor so that 
the air was constantly loaded with the most delicate 
and fascinating perfumes, the senses never being in- 
toxicated but ever delighted by their incense-like 
odor. 

Among the branches of the trees were seen beau- 
tiful birds of great variety of plumage and form, all 
gifted with the power of song, so that ever and anon 
during the day the air and the surrounding trees 
seemed redolent with the most delightful music ? 
which drowned the soul of the listener into captivity 
of blissful harmony, never tiring but always fascinat- 
ing by its power over the joyous senses. 

Interspersed were long open vistas extending many 
miles in one straight line, with occasional squares or 
open areas of apparent grass plats in whose centers 
were " jit deans " or living fountains of water rising 
many feet in the air and falling to the ground in 



506 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

graceful rain-like drops, sparkling as they fell like glit- 
tering diamonds. 

Those mound-like mountains, found at great dis- 
tances from each other, were most magnificent forma- 
tions of sublimity and grandeur, vastly large at the 
base, irregular on their sides as you ascend, covered 
on all sides with trees, shrubs and plants at inter- 
vals. Now the ascent is gradual and smooth from the 
base to the summit, another portion of the side would 
be, as it were, cut into a deep chasm, its sides over- 
hanging or walled by precipitous rocks, and then 
again a more gentle slope; from the summit a stream 
of water, small but beautiful, threaded its way, glid- 
ing, skipping, rolling or dashing from its bed over 
its way down, still down from gentle descent to fear- 
ful leaps, from rock to rock, and from chasm to 
chasm, until it formed as a whole a most sublime 
and beautiful cascade that imagination could in all 
the might of its power depict. At the base of the 
mountain the water seemed to pass by subterraneous 
passages and supplied those fountains in the areas 
before referred to. The waters forming those cas- 
cades were supplied by lakes on the summits of the 
mountains and fed and formed by the dews of heaven, 
similar to the lakes of earth supported by evapora- 
tion and reformation in clouds above them. The 
trees and shrubs found on the hillsides were ever 
varying as were those upon the level, never denuded 
of their foliage but continued one ever-living mass, 
varying and changing their hues from time to time, 
but this was their only change. The summits of 
those mountains presented one vast plateau or level, 
save the lake in the center of each, the plateau 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 507 

covered with trees growing in the most exact regular- 
ity, so that one could see for miles between the rows, 
which seemed to form an interminable vista. As one 
passed from the hill's base up along the margin of 
one of these gorges which seemed to form the cas- 
cade, the ascent was gradual and easy, but if you ap- 
proached the verge of the gorge, in places were found 
immense piles of nearly or quite perpendicular rocks 
with table-like tops in which the ascending traveler 
might stand in security and look down, down, down 
into an almost unfathomable abyss beneath and see 
the silvery current of water gurgling, eddying or 
dashing hundreds of feet beneath him, or looking to- 
ward the horizon in whichever way it was visible 
would be disclosed one of the most magnificent pano- 
ramas of nature's ever-varying scenery that it was 
possible for the eye to behold. The lakes on the tops 
of these mountains were filled with water of glassy 
crystal hue; fishes of glowing colors sported in the 
watery element, but no one ever disturbed them; 
birds swam upon its surface or gathered about its 
margin and the groves in all directions were kept 
tuneful by feathery songsters, while if you looked 
abroad occasionally there would come to view groups 
of animals, all of a peaceful kind, like the kid, the 
antelope and the gazelle, which wandered undisturbed 
in their forest home. 

No other principal change of season was here per- 
ceptible but that of day and night. The day was 
lighted by a glorious sun which seemed the sun of the 
universe, giving light and warmth, but never like 
tropical heat — oppression ; always mild and genial 
to the system, with scarce a shade of variation dur- 



508 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

ing the whole day, never obscured by a cloud or 
dimmed by any means, but warming, lighting and 
vivifying everything under its influence. The night 
lighted by a silvery moon and brilliant stars, but, 
like the day, never hid by a cloud, never dark, but 
seemingly light intensified and mellowed by some mys- 
terious power until it seemed neither day nor night, 
but a blending of both day and night into one. The 
air never cold, but balmy, mild and singularly in- 
vigorating. 

This vast region inhabitated, inhabitated by beings 
in human form who had once been mortal, but now 
changed and clothed with indestructibility and were 
ever-living. Each being precisely formed so as to 
exactly resemble the same being at the period of their 
most perfect man- and womanhood when on earth y 
with the same material powers physically and men- 
tally except being ever living and indestructible they 
did not require to be nourished by food as when on 
earth. True, they ate of the fruits found everywhere 
growing in all stages of perfection and of most deli- 
cious flavor, but these when eaten were not digested 
as mortals digest their food, but whatever of fruits 
or drink was taken into the body passed off by exuda- 
tion through the pores of the skin, like a kind of in- 
sensible perspiration. They were all clothed, one 
portion dressed in light, short tunics resembling the 
Roman toga, with large, loose draws like the oriental 
style ; while another portion was dressed in long flow- 
ing robes and girded about the waists. All the cloth- 
ing seemed indestructible and of the purest white. 
Down the sleeve of each arm was a wing formed of a 
feather-like gossamer, which wings could so be used 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 509 

by the inhabitants that they could soar through the 
air great distances almost with the rapidity of light. 

These people all spoke and could understand one 
common language, but the whole country was divided 
and settled by people who had once dwelled in sep- 
arate nations on earth and were so settled and dwelled 
in the land described. Each nation also retaining its 
own original mother tongue or vernacular language ; 
so that, to travel in the land described was in respect 
to characteristics of manners, habits, language and 
physical formation, like what it would have been to 
have traveled on earth among the separate nations of 
the earth, except that all, if they chose, could speak 
one common language. 

The great pervading sentiment among all this people 
without an individual exception, was peace and good 
will toward each other and toward the whole as one 
people. Every one sought to cultivate his or her own 
happiness and also that of their fellow beings. Evil 
did not exist in the land. 

The employment of these beings was somewhat varied 
according to nationality or race, but in most respects 
they were much alike. In a very large proportion the 
cultivation and practice of intellectual pursuits 
seemed their principal employment. The faculty of 
memory was perfect and active, insomuch that what- 
ever had been seen, observed and learned while on 
earth was vividly impressed on the mind and retained 
by the memory, so that the scenes of life on earth were 
as plainly exhibited to the mind's eye as though writ- 
ten or painted on a blackboard and shown to human 
vision. Conversation was, therefore, a considerable 
portion of the employment of these beings ; the subjects 



510 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

religious, moral, mental and physical philosophy, with 
the subjects connected with the exact sciences, were 
considered, as also the history of the past. These 
were diversified by examining the productions of 
artists who formed drawings on large leaves like 
vellum or thin parchment, also indestructible, found 
in abundance among trees of the groves, grown on a 
tree peculiar to itself. The music, the lute, the harp 
and the cymbal were also practiced by those gifted 
with musical powers, and agreeably listened to by 
those not skilled in the art. The art and practice of 
writing was common among these beings, being per- 
formed by the use of a stilus or crayon made by break- 
ing off a small twig or tiny limb of a peculiar tree 
found in abundance and of different colors, as black, 
red, green, yellow, etc., the twig used being broken 
about the length of a pencil and sharpened to a point 
at one end by rubbing it against the bark of another 
tree whose bark seemed much like sandpaper. The 
point of this pencil being moistened and applied to the 
surface of the leaf before described made an indelible 
impression. Thus writing or drawing was easy for 
every one and the leaves being numbered and formed 
into a book, made the library. Everything here was 
of the utmost simplicity and most exact perfection. 

The prosecution of historical studies was a simple, 
easy and agreeable employment. The student, pro- 
vided with a quantity of the blank leaves described 
and his crayon or pencil, readily found on inquiry per- 
sons of each succeeding generation of time from the 
earliest period of settlement of the earth, from the 
formation of Adam by the Creator down to the latest 
period of time ; persons who had lived on earth at all 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 511 

the intervening periods and whose memories being re- 
vivified each could give an accurate account of what 
took place on earth in his day and generation. In this 
way a history could be made up, as it were, by living 
witnesses. And in a similar manner, by conversing 
with the learned and intelligent of each generation, 
could a treatise be made up upon the subject of any 
science or art, giving the ideas, improvements and 
inventions of each succeeding generation on earth and 
forming as a whole a perfect historical treatise upon 
whatever subject was desired, to which was added 
such thoughts and reflections as resulted from the 
more perfect state of intellect which these beings had 
acquired by their transition from mutability to im- 
mutability. So these people went on perfecting them- 
selves in wisdom and knowledge through each cycle of 
succeeding time. Time being here kept by an annual 
change in the appearance of the foliage which occurred 
regularly once a year, but no record or account was 
made of days, weeks or months as they passed. And 
thus poetical, philosophical, historical and other works 
were produced, some referring to events in scenes on 
earth and some to the subjects for the occupation and 
agreeable employment of the writers, as well as for 
the instruction and improvement of others, for mind 
is and will be ever in the ascendant, going on and up- 
ward to higher and greater grades of perfection. 

Many who were not mentally employed or did not 
much practice music or the arts engaged in horticul- 
tural employments, collecting, planting and arrang- 
ing trees, plants and flowers gathered from a distance 
into a fruit or flower garden in such a manner as the 
different tastes of each individual inclined. Thus the 



512 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

different plans and varieties vastly increased and 
were everywhere distributed throughout this land. 
Some people spent much time in traveling among dif- 
ferent people and other nations, both far and near, 
studying their habits, manners and occupations and 
writing books of travels and observations and reflec- 
tions suggested by such social intercourse. These 
journeys were always performed by walking, for the 
wings with which they were provided could only be 
used for one purpose which will be hereafter de- 
scribed. 

One favorite employment of these people was to 
assemble in parties large or small and together ascend 
one of those mountains before described, often to their 
summits. This cost some toil, but was richly re- 
warded. The ascent was easy but slow ; as the ascent 
was gained from time to time, beautiful views were 
obtained of the distant surrounding scenery which as 
the ascent progressed was ever varying and as the 
larger trees in the plains below were sparsely scat- 
tered and there were many lawns, areas and open 
vistas, the climbing traveler could often see below the 
inhabitants singly or in groups engaged at their 
respective occupations. They could surmise who they 
were and see what they were doing. The different 
views of the scenery of the plain was more beautiful 
to the eye than language has power to describe, so 
rich, so verdant, blooming, varying, charming the 
imagination into a perfect rapture of enthusiasm. 
Then the ascent was so exhilarating by the bracing 
change of the atmosphere as they progressed, render- 
ing the spirits more cheerful and buoyant from time 
to time as they progressed up the declivity, occasion- 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 513 

ally following up the margin of a cascade and stepping 
on to the summit of one of those stupendous rocks 
which seemed to hang suspended, as it were, over one 
of those vast chasms formed for the passage of the 
falling waters and taking a view of the surrounding 
scene. In this position, the inhabitants below could 
often see the ascending wayfarer, his garments of 
white strongly contrasting with the deep green of the 
hillside foliage. Arriving at the summit, the view was 
grand and imposing, surpassing the power of descrip- 
tion. 

The vast plain beneath with its ever-varying foliage 
and forms, the vistas, the areas, the little silvery 
chords of water, the living, flowing fountains scatter- 
ing and dashing their pearl-like drops among the 
shrubs and flowers, the little lakelets, brilliant as a 
sheet of molten silver glistening in the sunlight ; with 
the inhabitants moving or grouping in different num- 
bers and forms, ever-changing, formed a picture which 
to be appreciated for beauty and loveliness must be 
seen. Then the several mountains, though really 
greatly distant from the clearness of the atmosphere 
and perfection of the vision, seemed really not very 
far off in the prospect, grand, lofty and magnificent. 
They reared their mighty summits far upward and 
towards the blue ethereal arch above them and stood 
like mighty giants as the seeming sentinels of the land. 
A view of these at the period of the rising or the set- 
ting of the sun was lovely in the extreme of nature's 
loveliness, the changing radiance of the hues of morn- 
ing or evening light, with the lights and shadows re- 
flected from these giant mountains as the burnished 
light from the burning sun, in its concurring or reced- 



514 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

ing rays shot across the plain or reflected upon or 
from these mountain piles was grand and beautiful 
as grandeur and beauty can only be made to be by 
the Supreme Architect of the Universe. 

Travelers to the mountain tops would meet while 
rambling over these summits other travelers from 
other and more distant countries and hold willing con- 
versation together, interchanging thoughts, facts and 
sentiments to their mutual satisfaction and improve- 
ment; but none remained on these summits for many 
days. The air was so exhilarating. If they remained 
too long it would act like an over-stimulus and result 
in counter-acting depression, so after spending a day 
and night in this upper region, they usually descended 
and returned to their allotted homes. 

The day was divided from the night by the Creator, 
for beneficent purposes, corresponding to labor or 
action and rest by human beings, so these beings that 
peopled the region described were required by their 
natures to sleep at night. They required no houses 
by day or night, no bleak, cold winds or piercing 
storms ever disturbed them, for there were none of 
these. The nights were as calm and genial as the 
days save that they were slightly cooler, a bare shade 
of difference. Their beds a sort of cot or hammock 
formed of wicker-work and suspended from a low 
branch of a tree to within stepping distance from the 
ground. On this was laid soft yielding leaves for a 
bed and pillow; their covering large leaves sewn to- 
gether, making a manifold, leafy blanket. Each indi- 
vidual at the accustomed hour at night composed him 
or herself for repose in their leafy couch with the calm 
reflection that no possible thing could disturb their 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 515 

hours of sleep, no fear of the midnight murder or rob- 
ber, the incendiary or the assassin, no fear of venom- 
ous insect or reptile nor of ferocious beasts, no 
thought of disease or approaching death gave them the 
thought of danger or insecurity ; all was blissful, calm 
and happy contentment with the meek and holy 
thought that for all this sum of happiness, they were 
indebted to the Heavenly Father. With these or like 
reflections they gently yielded to a peaceful slumber 
which always continued undisturbed until about the 
rising of the morning's sun when they were gently 
awakened by the matin song of the feathery choir 
perched among the branches of the surrounding trees 
and became conscious that they were about to renew 
another day of happiness and enjoyment. So passed 
the lives of these thrice happy people ; except that in 
commemoration of their deliverance from the sorrows 
of earth, every seventh day was observed as a day of 
rest, the morning of which day was proclaimed by 
an arched bow in the heavens, like the bow of promise 
after the Flood. 

The only unhappy feeling which ever invaded the 
minds of these beings was that a tradition had ever 
existed among them which was universally believed,, 
that a great way off and separated from them by an 
insurmountable barrier, existed another land, differ- 
ing from theirs in almost every condition ; for it hath 
no sun, no moon, nor stars to light it, being in perpet- 
ual semi-lunar darkness, always a sort of misty twi- 
light never light enough to see objects distinctly, but 
only like a shadow ; made up of mountains, valleys and 
pitfalls and covered by overshadowing trees of a dark 
and somber foliage, inhabited also by beings inde- 



516 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

structible, who had once been mortal, but the sum of 
whose deeds on earth had been evil, and who were con- 
demned to wander in these shades for all time to come ; 
their thoughts were but the harrowing reflections of 
a guilty conscience and their sleeping dreams often 
awakening them by the recollection of their evil deeds 
on earth, in which they imagined themselves undergo- 
ing some superhuman punishment and suffering. 

The people of the happy land sometimes were mo- 
mentarily pained by the reflection that they had never 
seen among them some acquaintance, friend or relative 
whom they had esteemed and cherished on earth and, 
consequently, believed they had gone to the dark 
region and were unhappy. This reflection caused 
them pain, but soon gave way and yielded to another 
reflection that their destiny was sealed in accordance 
with the principles of eternal justice and it was their 
duty to submit to the ruling of an All-Wise Provi- 
dence. 

In the midst of the great domain of this happy land 
was an immense valley, shaped somewhat resembling 
an amphitheater, covered with a sort of lawn grass 
of downy texture, in the very center of which was an 
elevated plateau of ground on which seemed reared a 
temple of vast dimensions and indescribable beauty, 
its basement seemed of variegated marble, its floors 
of burnished gold, its walls or sides of polished marble, 
white as the driven snow, and so polished that it re- 
flected objects like a mirror; its windows, pure crystal 
cased or set with an abundance of the most brilliant 
diamonds of many varieties of shade and color, so set, 
arranged and blended as to give them a magical ap- 
pearance of dazzling beauty. Its doors seemed 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 517 

porphyry inlaid with gold, its cornice also of bur- 
nished gold, fretted by ornamental engravings or work 
raised or sunk in bas-relief. Its roof an immense 
dome of cloud-resembling blue, with many spires rest- 
ing on bases of burnished gold, those spires high tow- 
ering in the air and seemingly formed of coruscations 
of brilliant lights and shades of every color from the 
most brilliant purple to the most exquisite white, con- 
tinually changing into and forming the most beautiful 
figures, as they slowly changed and re-formed into 
other shapes and forms of beauty, resembling the slow 
revolving turns of a kaleidoscope; remaining perfect 
a few moments and then suddenly another change and 
so on in endless revolutions. Such seemed this tem- 
ple which was inhabited by angels. Around the 
temple a court along the outward verge of which were 
interspersed altars from the golden censers of which 
burned incense, filling the air with odor, each altar 
guarded by an angel holding a flaming sword, the 
turning or pointing of which toward an intruder would 
have instantly repelled him, but no one ever sought to 
approach this sacred court. At the sound of a 
trumpet blown by an angel at a stated period of each 
day, which was distinctly heard in every part of the 
land, its inhabitants all rose by one accord up into the 
open air and soared with much the same velocity as 
light traveling from the sun and unerringly found 
their way to the valley in which the temple was situ- 
ated. There bending on their knees in the attitude 
of devotion, at a given signal from the temple com- 
menced the service of worship, not of the temple, nor 
of the angels, but of the great " I am," the sovereign 
Lord of the Universe. The worship being concluded, 



518 ORLO JAY HAMLIN 

there arose from the temple sweet music, first like the 
low, plaintive sound of an seolian harp, then rising 
higher and louder until the soul was enraptured by 
its harmony, then gently dying away or lessening in 
volume until it ended in a low murmur like the sigh- 
ing of the wind among the groves of the forest. 
Then after an impressive brief silence, this assem- 
blage in " numbers numberless " rose again into the 
air and instinctively returned to their allotted homes. 

Imagine that this, or some such place, may be the 
Spirit Land. 

This sketch is not pretended as a prophecy, nor yet 
a revelation, nor even that it is founded on any fact to 
support either premises or conclusion, but simply 
what it purports to be, " A Picture of the Imagina- 
tion." 



A DREAM, OR A VISION 



1AM not one of those who place any confidence in 
ordinary dreams, viewing them as the natural 
offspring of the action of the mind while in a state of 
partial sleep and partial wakefulness, or as the dis- 
tempered visions of a wandering mind so far under the 
influence of sleep as to be out of the control of health- 
ful reason to guide the judgment, and hence they are 
composed of vagaries of the brain, having little or 
no connection with the realities of life and in no way 
prophetic of the future. 

Undoubtedly there was a time when God communi- 
cated intelligence to mortals through the medium of a 
dream, or what would, I think, more properly be de- 
nominated as a vision; but human experience proves 
that at this day dreams are not reliable as prophecies. 
Undoubtedly coincidences may occur which seem to 
give truthfulness to the idea that dreams are reliable, 
but I consider them bare, natural coincidences which 
are but the result of natural philosophical causes or 
principles ; but I am not prepared to say that the Al- 
mighty does not now, when it is His pleasure, in some 
way influence the mind in a vision. 

I have some cause for this belief, or for adopting the 
idea that possibly it may be so, that we are sometimes 
so influenced, by an incident which occurred to me 
some years ago, which I propose now to write as near 
as I can remember it. The impression has somewhat 

519 



520 LIFE AND WORKS OP 

faded from my recollection and is not as vivid as when 
first received. I may not, therefore, now remember it 
with exactness, but will give it as memory best serves. 
In the summer of 1840, my mind was under religious 
impressions, believing that repentance and a firm de- 
termination to do one's duty towards his Creator and 
his fellow beings, was necessary to a forgiveness of sin. 
In August of that year I was on my return journey 
from New England towards my home. At Cornwall, 
Ct, I was taken sick and obliged to stop four days to 
recruit my strength. I laid in a bed up chamber in 
the Village Hotel, suffering much from my diseased 
condition. During one of those days I fell partially 
asleep. My mind seemed in a sort of trance, appar- 
ently under the impress of a vision. I thought I was 
looking out upon a western sky clear as crystal. The 
sun in great brilliancy seemed to rest about half way 
between meridian and its place for hiding itself from 
earth behind the treetops and the hills. Above the 
sun was written, as it were in burnished letters of gold 
and in large capitals, " Christ, the Saviour, reigns." 
Beneath the sun and stretching across the horizon in a 
straight line (while those above the sun were in an 
oval line), was written in letters of silver, looking 
like, so to express it, living light, the words, " Return- 
ing health.'' Immediately beneath the sun and near 
the edge of the horizon was a dark round figure resem- 
bling something less than the moon in size, but per- 
fectly black. Over this black, circular figure, was 
written in distinctly silver or light letters with black 
shading the word, " Death." I saw myself lying on a 
couch of sickness, while to my right was approaching 
me the figure of a great beast, dark in color, in the 



OKLO JAY HAMLIN 521 

form of a lion and about four times as large, which I 
thought sought to devour me. Suddenly, there ap- 
peared between my couch and the beast, the glorious 
form of the Saviour, with unearthly meekness and 
angelic beauty beaming from his countenance, his body 
being draped in a loose, flowing robe. Mildly he 
raised his hand and pointed with his finger to the 
beast to leave me and the beast immediately turned 
and went away. I awakened from my dream (if it 
was a dream ) with tears streaming from my eyes, and 
said to my wife, who was sitting by my bed, " My sins 
have been forgiven." I believed it then. I believe it 
now, but I think now and have ever thought it neces- 
sary to continue steadfast in the faith, and to do one's 
duty towards the Creator and our fellow beings. I 
believe repentance and baptism are necessary, but I 
believe more in a change of heart than in the efficacy 
of baptism of water, although I think that a require- 
ment of the Bible. I believe religion consists more in 
repentance and change of heart for the better, with a 
fixed determination well carried out by giving up one's 
heart to God and submitting to His will, as the inter- 
nal convictions of the judgment and choice of the 
mind, than in external forms. The external forms are 
very well and proper, but the work of the internal 
man, the conscience and the judgment under the influ- 
ence of Divine Grace, are indispensable. I believe 
that love towards God and our fellow beings, with the 
full exercise of charity, are the sure foundations of a 
well-grounded Christian hope. That the Saviour has 
taken from us our original sin, and that it remains for 
us to atone for our actual sins of commission or omis- 
sion, by faith, repentance and good works, and that 



522 ORLO JAY HAMLIN 

without the Saviour's intercession and forgiveness, 
there is no hope. 

I may add to the foregoing that I was exceedingly 
feeble when I left. I went on toward home, stopping 
for a week at Sharon, Ct. ; thence I went to Sterling, 
Pa., — this trip took four days. I could just walk 
from the carriage to the tavern. There I rested one 
day and then I went on to Hornellsville, N. Y., where I 
staid the night. During that night a wonderful change 
came over my physical condition. The next day I felt 
like a changed and a new being. I felt that I knew of 
a truth that my health had changed for the better. It 
was a happy day, one of the happiest of my life. 
Hope once more seemed to cheer my heart with invig- 
orating rays, and I believed there was something of 
usefulness in the path of life before me. I returned 
home cheerful and encouraged, continued to improve, 
again went into the courts, attended to business, and 
for the next five years was in the main in tolerably 
comfortable health. Then another change came over 
me for the worse and I went down, recruited after a 
four months' confinement to my sick bed, and kept up, 
but not so well as formerly until 1851, when I again 
went down to a four years' sad, sorrowful bed of suf- 
fering and anguish, from which I have arisen to realize 
that my constitution is thoroughly broken down and 
that my health is gone forever. Such being my des- 
tiny and the will of Divine Providence, to permit it to 
be so, I submit, and, like the " Lamb dumb before 
the shearer," I have nothing to say. It will soon be 
ended, and I am willing to pass away, hoping there is 
yet rest and peace in the Spirit land. 



A LITTLE CHAPTER OF AN OLD DYSPEPTIC'S 
EVERYDAY REFLECTIONS 

1FEEL and I know of a truth that I am lost, lost 
to the world now and forever. Hope, the siren 
enchanter to which I have clung for days, months and 
years gone by, is dead, never to be revived, no never. 
The golden ball of hope, " heaven's last best gift to 
man," has eluded my eager grasp : whenever I have 
stretched forth my anxious hand to reach it, I have 
only grasped a shadow. How long can the human 
heart survive sorrow, sorrow engendered by the all- 
crushing power of a hopelessly unconquerable disease. 
It can and will survive so long as hope endures, but 
when hope is dead and gone forever, the body and the 
mind are weighed down by the superencumbent mass, 
the incubus of suffering, like the body of a sturdy 
young oak by a mass of dank, poison-distilling ivy. 
Its life, its being, is crushed and if it yet lingers, it is 
but the tattered, mutilated remnant of what was of 
strength and usefulness is gone forever. When such 
sorrow has done its mighty work, when the body is 
thus made a wreck, when the mind, the only part of 
humanity distantly resembling its Creator, is worn out 
by years of corroding suffering and has fallen by con- 
stant attrition with a decaying body, then it is that 
hope gives place to fell despair, that haggard monster 
whose fatal embrace is always death to the victim. 
Where can that victim look for escape, for relief? 

523 



524 LIFE AND WOKKS OF 

The avenues are all closed, the victim is bound hand 
and foot, blind and paralyzed. There is no escape but 
by the portal of the grave. What then follows? We 
know not. No, no mortal has been permitted to pass 
its portal and return to earth. No, the deep, dark 
mystery of the everlasting future cannot be fathomed 
by mortals. Naught is given us but conjecture. It is, 
it must be either oblivion, eternal forgetfulness, or 
eternal ever-enduring immortality. Man looks about 
him and sees that all material animate nature, all ani- 
mate beings, perish and are resolved into the elements 
of which they were composed, dust to dust seems the 
destiny of man's material nature, but has he an im- 
mortal spirit? is the great question which absorbs his 
whole intellectual being. No reasoning human being 
can for a moment doubt the existence of a superhuman 
intelligence, a vast planning and creative power infi- 
nitely superior to man, a spirit and intellect overshad- 
owing all of human knowledge and of human power 
which is God over Heaven and over earth ; but mortals 
are bare dust in the balance. They are naught when 
compared to Him. Do those mortals live beyond the 
grave? I know it not, I cannot know, but I trust and 
hope they live in a bright and cloudless hereafter. 
The materialist tells us man has no immortal spirit 
and says his intellect is but a faculty of his animal 
nature that is perfected by habit and education, that 
is entirely dependent on the perfect or healthful con- 
dition of the body, that when the body becomes dis- 
eased, that when the body is mainly destroyed by dis- 
ease or old age, the spiritual essence, the mind, goes 
with it and sinks to imbecility or idiocy ; and that this 
shows that the mind, the intellect, the all we know of 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 525 

a soul, is not a tenant of the body, separate and inde- 
pendent of matter, but really the body and spirit are 
one, and that when one dies, the other dies also. 

The materialist laughs at the idea of a future for 
man when all know that his body after death slowly 
but surely becomes a part of the new formation of mat- 
ter, that all of its original is gone, that probably in a 
hundred years not the minutest particle of which the 
living body was once composed will then exist in a 
separate, distinct and identical form. They say, how 
can this body be raised from the grave at the Day of 
Resurrection when its particles have passed through 
thousands of natural or chemical changes since the 
hour of death, every particle having often assumed a 
new and distinct form and been an entirely different 
thing, or substance? They say that resurrection is an 
utter impossibility in accordance with the laws of na- 
ture and of matter. Let them laugh and I answer, 
" The atheist's laugh's a poor exchange for Deity of- 
fended." What is not possible to mortals is possible 
with God. 

Suppose the mind, which is thought to be the es- 
sence of or the soul itself, requires to be matured from 
infancy to the age of moral responsibility and from 
that to the vigor of manhood and from that it decays 
to imbecility and is nearly lost in extreme old age or 
is destroyed by the ravages of disease. Yet it is clear 
that the mind, the soul, existed within the body of 
the infant when it first breathed the vital breath of 
air, though it could not, as I think, master or control 
a rational idea. It was instinctively sensible to light, 
to cold, to pain and to hunger, but did not know that 
such things as phenomena, as light, cold, pain or hun- 



526 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

ger existed and were parts of the phenomena of nature. 
The mind was in the body and in course of time could 
appreciate enough of matter to understand a single 
object, but have no other knowledge of it than to know 
its outward form. In course of time, objects became 
familiar to the child, and perhaps some simple idea 
connected with the object seen as thus, seeing its 
mother would associate with the mother food, suste- 
nance and thus association of ideas once begun, the 
mind, the soul, begins to expand. Next comes the 
power of speech, language, a single word is spoken, 
the name of some familiar object, then other objects 
are named and remembered. Then objects and things 
connected with them are associated until the child can 
name objects and associate ideas with them with ease. 
This is the plain beginning of a reasoning human 
being : — the mind, the soul, existed from the child's 
first impress of life, but the evidence of its presence 
could not be clearly discerned until language gave it 
power of utterance. Previously it had lain dormant 
but finally awakened into active being. So it may lay 
dormant in the imbecility of old age, or in the decaying 
elements of mortality when the body passes from life 
to death, and who can doubt but that the Creator God, 
who caused it to become a living creature, can at His 
pleasure revivify the spark of dying nature, rekindle 
that immortal spark, though it has lain dormant in the 
tomb, or if it is His pleasure transfer that spark, that 
soul, at the moment of death to the spirit land and 
there re-clothe it in a new and indestructible body, per- 
haps similar in external appearance and power to the 
body worn on earth. I believe God can and I hope, I 
trust, He will. Then let me live as I wish to die, 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 527 

" Defying time to crush my immortality, or shake my 
trust in God." " Hope humbly then ; awaits the great 
Teacher." 

I rejoice in this beautiful sentiment : 

" This life's a dream, an empty show, 
But the bright world to which I go 
Hath joys substantial and sincere. 

" My flesh shall slumber in the ground, 
Till the last trumpet's awful sound ; 
Then burst the chains with sweet surprise, 
And in my Saviour's image rise." 



ANOTHER LITTLE CHAPTER FROM AN OLD 
DYSPEPTIC'S EVERYDAY REFLECTIONS 

EARTH to me gives no promise of good for the 
future. I have tried everything suggested by 
myself or others for twenty-six years and found noth- 
ing to arrest the disease which has been slowly but 
surely wearing me out for all those long-suffering, sor- 
rowing years. Every reason upon which to found a 
hope has gone. There is nothing in nature or art that 
can restore me. This I now know, and have long 
known full well, and yet strange to say, and what to 
me is a mystery, hope, though really dead, still lives in 
vision. The visionary infatuation, the bright illusion, 
the ignis fatuus which I know as unreal hope, hope 
which my reason cannot kill, still lingers to delude 
me. Strange to me, that reason cannot destroy it. It 
still lives, although it has been crushed by reason a 
thousand times. Like the fabled hydra-headed mon- 
ster, if one of its heads is struck from the body, imme- 
diately ten new heads spring up in its place. Like 
the frenzied maiden whose lover has been wrecked at 
sea and swallowed up by the billows of the ocean, 
nightly she visits that ocean's beach and sits her down 
to look at the offing for the return of her betrothed, 
firmly believing that before the sun shall again gild 
the sea by its burnished matin rays the sails of his 
returning ship will be seen and that she will surely 
live to clasp him to her heart. And though disap- 

528 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 529 

pointed a thousand times, she has just as much faith 
and as strong a desire to sit on that beach and look 
for the lost one the thousandth time that she had the 
first dreary night she took her lonely watch upon the 
strand. This fatuity of the human mind is strange. 
I cannot account for it, I yield it up as one of the 
mysteries beyond the ken of mortals. I know there is 
no ground for hope on earth. Is there hope for life 
beyond the shores of time? I have not seen, for the 
past nine years, one comfortable day to average in a 
month, nor do I ever expect to again. I suffer almost 
perpetually. My head is in a constantly troubled con- 
dition, oppressed with too much blood, confused, with 
a perpetual ringing sound. I am always low spirited 
and have not for years felt a single natural feeling. 
All is unnatural, all disturbed. I often think it 
strange I have not gone deranged; that I have not, I 
feel deeply thankful. Sometimes, once in many 
weeks, I have a momentary feeling of encouragement 
come over me, but I am beginning to dread such a 
feeling. It always proves a delusion and invariably 
very soon, generally in a few hours, I am decidedly 
worse, and so go into the old way for weeks or months 
again. I do not like such delusions. They always 
leave me more miserable, more unhappy. 

I have dabbled with medicine for years and years 
to no good purpose, for the past five years any remedy 
that does me a particle of good ; nothing, not a single 
symptom is in the least relieved. It is in vain for me 
to struggle against a destiny that is inexorable. Fate 
is against me and I submit. I have fought against 
destiny and hoped against hope until my heart is 
nearly broken with discouragement. I feel that it is 



530 LIFE AND WOEKS OF 

useless to make another effort. I have no faith in any 
earthly remedy. I now give up and let destiny take its 
way. My prayer to God is that I may be enabled to 
bear my miseries to the end and when the end of time 
with me does come, I hope for the future. Believing 
the Bible as I do, I trust there is a resting place in the 
Spirit Land, rest from the sorrows of life. That is 
my faith, that my trust. 

I believe the Bible is true, that it is a work of Divine 
inspiration, although the language used is mainly the 
work of mortals, yet many of the thoughts were by 
inspiration. And believing the verity of the Bible, I 
believe in the immortality of the human soul, because 
the Bible teaches that is so. The truth of the Sacred 
Volume is evidence to me : 

1st. Because it carries with it the internal evidence 
of its own authenticity, it being a chronological his- 
tory of God's dealings towards the Jews, His chosen 
people, ever admitted by them as the inspiration of 
Divine Providence, so far as their own history is con- 
cerned. The New Testament is also evidence of its 
own truthfulness, being admitted and confirmed by 
contemporary writers and maintained by all Christian 
people from the Saviour down through the Romish 
Churches to this time and taken and accepted from 
the Roman Churches by all Protestant Churches 
(which were emanations from the Roman Catholic). 
If it were not true, the Catholic Fathers would not 
have adopted it from the Apostles, nor the Protestant 
from the Catholic. 

2d. It is true because of the prophecies and the 
miracles of the Old Testament, which were verified ; of 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 531 

the miracles of the New Testament, and because Christ 
taught as never man taught. 

3d. I have reason to believe it because many of the 
greatest intellectual minds of every age of the Chris- 
tian era have also believed it. It has borne the scru- 
tinizing test of the most enlarged minds of the past 
eighteen hundred years. This greatly aids to 
strengthen my belief. 

4th. Because no great nation has ever succeeded in 
civilization and national prosperity without adopting 
its principles as the rule of their moral action and be- 
cause its moral precepts are the best of all others, as 
experience has demonstrated. The pagans had many 
good moral rules, but they as a whole fell infinitely 
short of the high and holy teachings of the Gospel. 
Therefore, I believe the Bible is true, and being true, 
man is immortal. 

I look upon the question of an hereafter for man, as 
being beyond the reach of proof by the aid of human 
philosophy. There is little, if any, analogy between 
the material and the immaterial or spiritual world. 
The material we see is everywhere decaying and chang- 
ing. The great, all-pervading idea of change is every- 
where legibly written on every object of the material 
world we inhabit. Physical death is everywhere the 
lot of all animal nature, and change the destiny of all 
things inanimate. Hence, it is impossible to prove 
the immortality of the soul by analogy, by comparison 
or by the natural law of things material. They are 
totally dissimilar and distinct. Probably St. Paul 
gave the best philosophical reason that could be given 
for the Resurrection when he likened man's body and 



532 ORLO JAY HAMLIN 

soul to a grain of wheat that is sown in the ground and 
dies, but from it a new one springs up and bears other 
wheat exactly in the similitude of the old, but to my 
mind this figure falls short of proof, because the old 
grain rots and dies. It is changed into other sub- 
stances and its identity is gone forever. As well may 
we say the parent survives in the body of his child ; al- 
though it emanates from his body, yet when the child 
becomes a human being, its identity is distinct. The 
father and his child are distinct human beings, with 
separate and distinct bodies and souls. 

I hold it is faith in the Bible alone that can prove 
to man that he is immortal. The pagan philosophers' 
argument will not do for proof, " Else why this long- 
ing after immortality? " A brute would wish the 
same thing had it the power of connected reason. As 
it is, the brute can only dread death, as all brutes do. 
They instinctively wish to live, but they are not im- 
mortal, so the wish alone cannot make man immortal. 



WHAT ENJOYMENT IS THERE IN LIFE 
WORTH THE PRICE WE PAY? 

WHAT enjoyment is there is life worth the price 
we pay? Do we obtain it in the acquisition of 
knowledge? Point out to me the man who, after im- 
muring himself during the gay youthful period of his 
life in the lonesome, cheerless walls of a seminary, 
wasting his constitution and destroying the ruddy 
glow of health from his cheek over the midnight taper, 
in obtaining that fund of knowledge which he had with 
glowing hopes and high-born wishes long anticipated 
would be the consummation of his earthly happiness, 
and who has, after, if you please, he has become great 
in wisdom, even as great as the wisest man ever known 
since the Christian era, been heard to say when he had 
received and obtained the object of his desires : " I 
have received the boon of industry, resolution and per- 
severance. I am paid for my labors. I am happy and 
content." No, he will tell you that " although I have 
become learned in many things, yet tracing the path 
of learning is like following the courses of a mighty 
river from its mouth to its several sources. When you 
leave the great ocean of nature and first enter upon the 
examination, there being but one great leading stream, 
the eyes can scarcely be deceived. There is no inter- 
ruption and you progress with ease. However, you 
soon arrive at some ramification or branch of this great 
leading reservoir of waters. You must examine that 

533 



534 OELO JAY HAMLIN 

to its source. Soon you find another, you must ex- 
plore that, and yet another that must be traced ; so you 
may continue until you have traveled thousands of 
miles, when you will find you have but just begun. So 
it is with learning. The elementary branches may be 
obtained with ease and with a tolerable degree of cer- 
tainty, but when you inquire into every minutia of the 
languages, when we look through the all searching eye 
of astrology and attempt by the epistoler of our weak 
and erring intellectual faculties to comprehend the 
movements of the celestial bodies ; when we enter the 
unbounded field of philosophy and attempt to investi- 
gate nature in its most extended amplification; when 
we attempt to divine the cause and expatiate upon 
the effects of the great maze of nature, we at once 
sink into nothingness and see the imperfection of 
man. He sees that the utmost stretch of human ken 
is to know his ignorance which, when known, is so 
cruel a mortification to the ambition, monarch of the 
earth, that instead of success he meets but disap- 
pointment, instead of triumph he finds defeat, instead 
of pleasure he receives all that can be felt of human 
misery. He turns from the wreck of his fallen hopes 
with desperate despair. He looks upon the shattered 
fragments of his heart's most dearly treasured wishes 
with contempt, ridicule and scorn, and at last turns 
from the horrid heart-rending scene with an ineffable 
ejaculation of scorn for the enjoyment of human life. 



OH MEMORY! THOU GREAT, GRAND LINK 

OH memory! thou great, grand link 'twixt past 
and present, 

Without thee, quite vain would be our toils for knowl- 
edge. 

Our task but show, just like the thoughtless, honest 
peasant ; 

Who ne'er has seen or thought of seeing college. 

I own, without a tear, memory, sometimes thou art 
pleasant. 

But oftener still thou dost make the briny drop gush 
from my eye; 

The peasant, happy in himself, is thoughtless of to- 
morrow as to-day, 

Bless' d in his wife and family, he "whiles dull cares 
away." 

When through memory's glass I look to days long 

since gone by, 
Those days press heavy on my wounded, weary-laden 

thoughts, 
The only crutch on which I lean, the goal on which 

my thoughts rely, 
The tattered vestments open and relics of my youthful 

toys. 
May heaven in kindness never once in wrath this wish 

deny. 
The power of recollection, the word that dwells upon 

a thousand tongues, 

535 



536 ORLO JAY HAMLIN 

Can scarcely tell the joys that in sweet memory dwell. 
Altho' sometimes with grief oppressed it seems a little 
hell. 

Alas, fond youth! the scenes of fancy have fled, 
And cares' rough billows rush o'er thy devoted head ; 
The rose of health has faded from thy cheek. 
The canker worm hath whet its hungry beak, 
As desolation sweeps the rustling blighted leaf, 
So fate's decreed thy days should be but brief. 

The summer sun that warmly glowed upon the trees, 
The gentle air that whispers through the breeze ; 
The fragrant odor that floats along the gale, 
The gurgling stream that glides along the vale ; 
The sylvan shades where hunters love to rove, 
The myrtle bower, bless'd refuge for the dove, 
The sacred grove where love was wont to flee, 
AH, all their powers have not one charm for thee. 

Though beauty's eye should flash with heavenly fire, 
Though charms unnumbered all who see admire, 
Though virtue's sigh and pity's ready falling tear, 
To all who knew her would to them endear ; 
Though nature seemed to copy from her form 
Though mimic art with skill would fain adorn 
Her lovely features smiling like the sun gilt morn, 
Or moon that pensive filled her mellow horn, 
Though wealth and splendor rested at her side, 
You would not woo her for your bride. 



THOUGHTS AND REFLECTIONS 

FOR a sick man whose sands of life are nearly 
run, when all experiments to regain health have 
failed, when even all possible hope is extinguished 
and fate has put on him the seal of despair and there 
is naught to look to as the future of earth ; of all con- 
solations the ever-busy imagination can unfold, the 
thought that he knows that God exists, that there is a 
God, and believes in Christ as his mediator and Sa- 
viour, and hopes for immortality, and believes that 
when life has once begun, we live forever, that death 
instead of being a cessation of life is but a change, 
it may be a painful one, from mortal to immortal; 
that when we die we shall sleep, not die, but " sleep 
with our Fathers " and when we awaken from that 
sleep, be it long or short, we shall wake to everlast- 
ing life, with our bodily infirmities, our disease or 
cares, our sorrows, our weaknesses, both of body and 
mind, gone, all gone forever, being born again into 
a new, holy and perfect state of being. This is the 
most glorious, joyful, happy and blissful and to give 
the fullest expression, grave and sublime thought that 
can be conceived by mortals and the one that of all 
others gives me the most happiness. 

NATURE AND ART 

Nature is the great original, coming fresh, beautiful 
and perfect from the Creator's hands, ever to be re- 

537 



538 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

garded as evidence of the existence of an all-wise and 
powerful personal God, the revelations of God to man 
by the book of external evidences that its divine Au- 
thor exists, while the evidence of the Scriptures fur- 
nish the internal evidence to the conscience and the 
mirror of the same great truth. God created man 
" in his own image/' thus giving him his " patent of 
nobility/' found recorded in the " Book of books/' the 
Bible; and to man he has given the power not to 
create anything material, but to embellish, to render 
more beautiful and useful what he has been pleased 
to create, bestowing on man the power which on earth 
is next to nature, supreme in earth. Thus God 
formed the diamond and left it in the mine in its 
perfect but crude state, to be wrought into its more 
perfect beauty and placed in its brilliant gold setting 
by the intelligence, the skill and the industry of man, 
and thus Art acts as the handmaid of Nature, the one 
ever -necessary to the other. 

Socrates. As to the decision of human judgment ; is 
not Socrates as well entitled to the rewards for mar- 
tyrdom in another state of being, the better world, 
as were any of the Apostles who suffered martyrdom? 
The Apostles either saw or had heard of the miracles 
of Christ and were convinced that he could not be 
mere man, but God incarnate; while Socrates knew 
nothing of the teachings of Christ or his miracles, 
and yet Socrates died more than three hundred years 
before the birth of Christ, discoursing of the immor- 
tality of the soul, and was condemned to death be- 
cause he sought to introduce a new God, the very 
God in whom we believe. 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 539 

It is a matter of amazement to me that a pagan 
philosopher, who had never seen the Bible, when he 
saw nothing in nature by which he was surrounded 
but the evidence of growth, reproduction, decay and 
final corruption of all animal and vegetable life, 
should conceive the idea that the spiritual part of 
man, the soul, should live again after mortal death 
and be immortal : and that all nature must have been 
formed and sustained by one great ruling Spirit, 

Nature. Break a single link in the chain of nature 
and all might perish. For example, if by some proc- 
ess, the pollen of plants ceased to be produced and 
no more was formed, there would soon be a cessation 
of reproduction ; hence all vegetation would cease and 
this would cause the destruction of all animal as 
well as vegetable life and probably depopulate the 
world. 

EGYPT AND GREECE 

The former cultivated the material in their edi- 
fices and statuary — the latter the intellect in phi- 
losophy, politics and oratory. 

THE NEW WORLD. POSSIBLE — SPECULATIVE IDEA 

As science proves it highly probable that in the 
world's creation, an immense period existed when no 
air-breathing animals lived, but only water-breathing ; 
those passed away and were followed by another and 
more perfect ones; then another long period when 
only the lowest order of animals lived and then passed 
away. Then followed after a great lapse of time ani- 
mals of the highest order ; then lastly man, the earth 



540 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

being gradually fitted for him, and each new race 
of animals more perfect than the former race. So, 
by analogy, possibly the earth may now be fitting for 
the last final highest order of beings when the present 
shall have passed away; viz., man, his spirit being 
re-united to his body (which had lain for ages in cor- 
ruption), beings like the Angels of God, perfect and 
immortal, to be the last final inhabitants of this globe 
to remain forever. 

These newly formed immortals may be without sex- 
ual distinction or without sexual desires, incapable 
of reproduction or the continuance of their species, 
for that will not then be necessary, and thus remain 
intact as the inhabitants of a new formed or renovated 
earth, which (if matter is eternal) will never perish. 

LIFE WITH ITS BURDENS 

We must accept life as it is given us or not have 
it at all, and few are willing to give it up until obliged 
to. Regrets and repinings are useless. We can bet- 
ter nothing by thinking about our sorrows and bur- 
dens of affliction or misfortune. They do no good. 
The best philosophy is to be resigned and accept life 
while it lasts on the terms and with the afflictions 
that unavoidably belong to our mortal bodies, and 
hope for a better state in the great future of eternity. 

" They learn too much, and think too little." This 
has been said of the Austrian soldiers as to their too 
much drill. 

To apply this thought to the purposes of education, 
people may depend too much upon the rules of the 
school, have rules, not principles, imbued in the mind 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 541 

and not depend enough on themselves, their own self- 
reliance, dictated by observation, experience and re- 
flection. In short, the reasoning of their own minds, 
this is what makes people intelligent. To commit 
rules to memory makes them learned, but that alone 
will not render a human being intelligent. To il- 
lustrate ; if we are asked an opinion upon some given 
question; now, instead of turning the mind to think 
of and find what was the opinion of some learned man 
or in some book on the question, reflect and then give 
your own opinion and a convincing reason for that 
opinion. This would be intelligence. 

INTUITION AND EXPERIENCE 

Which aids us most in acquiring intelligence, intui- 
tion or experience? 

DOGGEREL VERSE ON CAT-SUP 

The time to make cat-sup's in the fall of the year, 
It looks reddish and pretty, and tastes very 

queer- (ly) ; 
Though it makes the tongue smart, and from the eye 

starts a tear, 
'Tis eaten with gusto, and folks love it most dear- (ly ) . 

MR. LINCOLN'S ANECDOTE OF "DEMONSTRATION" 

He could not understand the idea. He could not 
demonstrate. He got a geometry book, learned to 
demonstrate, and never forgot it. 

THE BODY, THE MIND IN A SPIRITUAL SENSE 

Though the body be corruptible and may be in it- 
self filled with corruption and the seeds of dissolu- 



542 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

tion and decay, it is barely the case, the tenement in 
which the real man, the mind, dwells. The body is 
as the earth and the refuse of the dung-heap mingled 
in compost which supports and sustains the plant that 
springs and grows out of it and produces a fragrant 
and beautiful flower. The flower is still beautiful 
and fragrant though it may grow out of a dung-heap. 
We may think of ourselves and other human beings 
as of two bodies or personalities, the one the frail, 
corrupt body physically, the other the mind, the soul 
of that physical body, and when we converse with an- 
other person, we may well conceive that we talk not 
to and converse not with his or her corruptible body, 
but we talk to and converse with his or her mental 
and emotional body, and hence rid ourselves of the 
notion of our own and others' nothingness and be- 
lieve we are conversing mind with mind, soul with 
soul, in which communion the physical body is not 
taken into consideration, but entirely left out of 
thought or the mind's idea of itself, entirely inde- 
pendent of the physical body which we may imagine 
to be only the outer body, the casket in which the 
precious jewel of the mind is kept. The casket is 
made of materials which will rot and perish but the 
soul, the mind, we trust will not perish. 

I hold that the spiritual part of man is the mental 
emotions or affections of the mind, the mental and 
emotional feelings of the heart, and not that there is 
anything that need to be mysterious in the idea of 
a spiritual sense, feeling or influence, such as there 
was on the day of Pentecost when the Apostles spoke 
by inspiration from the Almighty with gift of tongues, 
or in many languages ; that day and occasion is past. 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 543 

A man is left with a plain physical body and another 
body which is simply mind made up of the power of 
thought, reasoning and the emotions, evolving the 
affections of the mind. 

No man can be happy in these days unless he ac- 
cepts the inscrutable " now." 

TIMES GONE BY 

Five years ago, I could, at least in imagination, see 
some bright sunny spots in the picture of life, but 
now whichever way I turn the picture, its dark side 
is sure to come first and last to view. The bright 
side seems faded out and erased forever. It is gone 
and never can return. Old age and long continued 
disease have done their work and a wreck to happiness 
and even comfort is the result. The destruction of 
the fabric is complete and hope in this life has van- 
ished and is gone forever. I submit, but it is very 
hard and sad. 

THEORY OF CREATION. NATURE AND MIND. 
NATURE AND GOD 

I hold the opinion that the creation of a cosmos, 
of the world, or the universe on or by the theory of the 
materialists on the supposition of the theory of evo- 
lution or the atomic or molecular formulas alone, 
without the intervention of mind and that mind which 
embraces to us the idea of a Deity who is God, 
possessed of infinite power, wisdom, intelligence and 
goodness, is logically and philosophically impossible. 
Both matter with its unerring laws and mind with 
its all-pervading grasp of intelligence, judging of the 



544 LIFE AND WORKS OF 

fitness of the means to accomplish a necessary end or 
fixed purpose, are indispensably necessary, both ab- 
solutely necessary as adjuncts, the one of the other, 
the complements and the supplements of each other. 

Matter alone without mind cannot form a cosmos, 
nor can mind alone without matter form a world 
or a universe. Hence true philosophy must unite the 
Revelation of the Bible, admitting of God as infinite 
mind, with the philosophy of the sciences or nature. 

To me the idea of creating a cosmos without the 
intervention of mind is simply ridiculous. 

GOD IS THE CREATOR, THE BIBLE IS TRUE 

An animal or man must originally have been 
created in an adult state and not as an ovum from 
which as a germ they were to grow. It required the 
adult to produce the ovum, the germ, the embyro of 
the human being, the body to grow the ova in and the 
adult was indispensable to nurture the young. To 
produce man or an animal in an adult state is to 
perform a miracle. Man must originally have been 
formed by a miracle, because to create man in an adult 
state, as a primordial being, is contrary to the known 
laws of nature and, therefore, a miracle. This was 
done and could only have been accomplished by super- 
human or divine power, such as the power and intel- 
ligence of the Divine Being called God by all Chris- 
tian people. 

Man was created and, therefore, a miracle is pos- 
sible with God. Christ was divine because he per- 
formed miracles, and, therefore, must have been of 
divine origin and power. Hence the Bible is true. 

Man must have been originally formed by a miracle. 



ORLO JAY HAMLIN 545 

Otherwise the human race never would have existed. 
A miraculous original is the sine qua non, the cause 
without which man had never been. 

The idea of a personal (so to speak), spiritual, in- 
finitely intelligent God, is an irresistible influence, as 
neither nature, matter or man can produce a miracle 
or an event contrary to the known laws of matter. 

Organic matter can reproduce but cannot create. 
Inorganic matter can re-form but cannot create. It 
can only produce new inorganic forms by combina- 
tion. It cannot produce life. 

As the Bible is true, man, after death, will be im- 
mortal. 



THE END 



716 



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